A Teenage Mom
Artie woke up to the warm morning light filtering through her bedroom window, accompanied by the familiar, high-pitched ding of a System Notice.
Arthur Wright has earned the [Motherhood] achievement!
Arthur Wright has earned a [Frog Mom] loot box!
Arthur Wright has acquired [Eat Your Vegetables]!
Arthur Wright has acquired [Don't Make Me Come Back There]!
Artie smiled at the ceiling. "Haha, what?"
She opened the loot box. A neatly bound paper booklet materialized in her lap. Printed across the cover in bold, cheerful lettering was a title:
A Guide to Amphibian Parenting
Wait. The eggs hatched already‽
Artie sat up in bed, clutching the pamphlet.
Hyperolius viridiflavus eggs usually have an embryonic gestation period of four to six days depending on ambient water temperature. Factoring in the tropical humidity of Ollie's cottage and the ambient heat radiating from her alchemical heating system...
Yeah. Five days since I finally looked at the only other frog in the terrarium, sighed in amphibian, and settled on the guy whose entire mating strategy was screaming directly at me twenty times before wheezing and collapsing.
She opened the pamphlet, her eyes skimming the first paragraph:
Statistically, 68% of all maternal species in the multiverse practice some form of filial cannibalism when stressed, bored, or deficient in phosphorus. Read this pamphlet to reduce the urge to snack on your own offspring!
"I am not eating my kids," Artie muttered, "probably."
Interestingly, the back of the pamphlet contained a dense hall of fame listing every individual in history who had ever qualified for the booklet. To Artie’s immense surprise, she wasn't the first. The list was shockingly long, filled with high-ranking nobles, legendary heroes, and disgraced princes:
"Prince Gerald of Oakhaven: When your [Alchemist: Witch] Queen mother punishes you for failing to do your chores, make sure to remind her that some frogs can change their sex. So much for having an heir to the throne!"
Artie skimmed down to the very bottom, where a fresh, glowing entry sat right beside her name:
"13yo [Shapeshifter] Arthur Wright wanted to unlock the [Sex Change] skill to have some fun, so he had a [Witch] turn him into a special kind of frog that can change its sex. It succeeded! What a smart kid. What he didn't know was that [Sex Change] is an adults-only skill. It wasn't all bad, though: SHE unlocked the [Blood Production] skill after having her first period! You go, girl!"
Artie slammed the booklet shut and threw it across the room.
A few seconds later, another System Notice chimed:
Arthur Wright has earned the [Mother x211] title!
Somewhere, two hundred and eleven tiny, half-reed-frog tadpoles were currently swimming around, completely unaware that their mother was a thirteen-year-old former biologist currently hiding under a blanket.
She had no idea what to think about it, so she didn't.