Jordie took careful, measured steps as he snuck closer and closer to the khalkotauroi cow. While he wasn't sure if their sight was movement based, he didn't want to risk tripping it otherwise.
"Wait, don't cows have eyes in the side of their head?", Jordie mused, "But she is currently eating so I guess I'm safe...I hope." The khalkotauroi cow was indeed busy munching on some freshly toasted grass. From what Jordie could see, this one liked her grass extra crispy.
Eventually, Jordie managed to get within arm's reach of the khalkotauroi's udders and was ready to milk this thing. There was only one problem that he didn't think about until just now.
"Waitaminute...I don't know how to milk an animal, let alone a fire cow...hey System?"
[Yes, host?]
"I recalled that random skill ticket thing, is it possible for me to redeem it early? If not, can I just purchased the skill necessary to milk this thing?"
[No and Yes...]
"I'm sensing a but", Jordie replied deflated.
[Host has yet to level up or earn any skill points. Meaning it is impossible for the System to give the host any skills.]
"Of course...well then, time to wing it."
Gourd bottle at the ready, Jordie reached out from his hiding spot in the tall grass and tried to grab at the khalkotauroi's udders. Unfortunately, his arms were a tad bit too short to grab at even the closest udder.
"Okay, need to get closer...", Jordie grumbled as he leaned a little bit further out and began to bat at the cow udders like a cat. At this point he was about an inch away from his goal.
"Almost...got it!"
*PSSSSSHHH!*
"Moo?!"
"Uh oh."
[Ding! Host has completed the Quest: Feeding the Partner. Shop function has been unlocked and rewards has been sent to user's inbox. Please redeem at your earliest convenience.]
At this moment, Jordie was in an upside-downside situation.
On the upside, he had managed to grab a hold of the udder, fulfill the System quest and was now filling his bottle gourd with some cinnamon-scented bronze colored milk. He wasn't sure why it looked or smelled the way it did, but Jordie chalked it up to magic.
On the downside, he was now locking eyes with a very pissed off looking fire-breathing demon cow. The fact that he hadn't let go of the udder while she was staring at him, just made it more awkward.
Tense second after tense second passed as Jordie filled his gourd with khalkotauroi milk, the cow being milked just giving him a death glare the whole time. Eventually, the milk stopped flowing and the gourd was filled.
Jordie slowly pulled the bottle back and closed the lid, maintaining eye contact with the cow the whole time.
[Why are you still staring?]
"The situation is too awkward for me to look away..."
As the two stared at each other, Jordie attempted to slowly back away into the tall grass. He figured if he slowly backed away while maintaining eye contact, the khalkotauroi wouldn't be inclined to blast him with fire or gore him.
Once he saw the khalkotauroi cow take a deep breath however, Jordie immediately superman dived in order to avoid her fire breath.
"CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAAAAAP!", he exclaimed as he narrowly avoided a long jet of flame. Jordie did not want to find out how long it took for a khalkotauroi to reload their fire breath, so he got to his feet as quickly as possible and began to run like there was no tomorrow.
The khalkotauroi cow however did not want to let Jordie off the hook.
"MOOOOO!"
The khalkotauroi cow let out a loud bellowing moo moments before charging after Jordie, snorting literal smoke and flames from her nostrils.
"You have got to be kidding me!", Jordie thought to himself as he caught sight of the charging khalkotauroi. He wasn't sure if hell had a soundtrack but he assumed it involved the sound of bronze hooves slamming on the ground.
Jordie kept his eyes forward and baby pack tight to his back as he tried to outrun the chasing cow. When he threw a glance back to see his progress, he saw that the khalkotauroi was getting closer and closer.
[Host is aware he can't outrun this cow, right?], the System suddenly commented.
"Yes, I am aware", Jordie mentally retorted.
[So how are you going to outmaneuver this thing?]
"I'm going...", Jordie paused for a bit before noticing a very convenient tree in front of him, "To do this!"
Picking up the pace, Jordie made his way to the tree and quickly climbed it like he was a monkey or a cat. He didn't know why but it felt a lot easier to climb a tree in this world than his old one.
Once Jordie got to the top of the tree, he saw that the khalkotauroi cow had lowered it's horns and was getting ready to ram his newly acquired perch.
"Minos, hold on tight!", Jordie said as he braced himself for impact.
"MOOOOO!"
*BANG!*
The khalkotauroi slammed into the tree hard, causing the whole thing to violently shake. Luckily, Jordie managed to stabilize his hold on it before falling off of it. Surprisingly, baby Minos was surprisingly calm throughout this whole affair.
Seeing that her opponent wasn't shaken out of the tree yet, the khalkotauroi proceeded to walk back a bit in order to get a running start.
[Congratulations, you have managed to delay your death by a few minutes], the System quipped.
"I'm not done yet", Jordie replied while pulling out a coil of vines from his inventory.
"How painfully convenient that this world has so many practical plants", Jordie mumbled to himself as he tied the rope into a makeshift lasso.
Once he was finished, Jordie stood up on his sitting branch and readied his lasso for the khalkotauroi's next charge. Just in time too, for the khalkotauroi had finished walking back and was rushing towards the tree at an even faster pace than before!
[You're not doing what I think you're doing, are you?], the System asked in what sounded like a worried tone.
"Yes," Jordie said as he began to crouch down.
"I," he said while readying his lasso.
"AMMMMMMM!," he exclaimed while jumping off the branch and towards the charging khalkotauroi.