It started with a crack.
At first, I thought it was Mudnut breaking his own fingers again.
Standard swamp sounds.
But no — it came from the Mysterious Glowing Egg I nabbed from the garbage pile.
Crack.
Plop croaked from my head.
"Relax, it's probably just a lizard or something," I muttered.
System pinged.
[Warning: Unidentified Egg About to Hatch]
[Proceed with Caution]
Me:Proceeds anyway.
The Hatching
The egg split open with a blinding green light.
Out tumbled…
A tiny, green-skinned, one-eyed, four-armed, winged… thing.
With a mohawk.
It screamed.
"DAD!!!"
I screamed too.
"WHAT THE FU—"
System pinged.
[Congratulations! You've Acquired a New Dependent: Goblin-Drake Hybrid Lv.1]
[Auto-Named: Skreeble]
Me: "Why the hell does it have wings?!"
Skreeble:Bites my ear.
The Problem
Turns out, the egg wasn't a garbage egg.
It was a cursed wyvern egg.
Crossbred with goblin blood somehow (probably Blib's fault).
Now I had a flying, hyperactive, one-eyed goblin-drake child yelling "DAD" and setting things on fire by sneezing.
Training Attempt
I tried to teach Skreeble to sit.
Skreeble headbutted a log.
Tried to teach him fetch.
He fetched Ma Grugga's wig.
Tried to teach him not to bite Plop.
Plop bit him first.
System pinged.
[New Quest: Tame Skreeble]
[Reward: 800 EXP + Skill Scroll (Random)]
Now we're talking.
The Plan
I figured if I wore him out, he'd calm down.
So I strapped a stick to his back, tied a rotten fish to it, and let him chase it in circles for two hours.
Mudnut cheered.
Blib fell in a hole.
After three hours, Skreeble collapsed, snoring and drooling acid.
System pinged.
[Quest Complete: Tame Skreeble]
[+800 EXP]
[EXP: 2530/2000 — Level Up!]
[+5 Attribute Points]
[Item Obtained: Skill Scroll (Random)]
The Scroll
I unwrapped the scroll like a kid on Gobmas.
[Skill Obtained: Pocket Fire Lv.1]
"YES! FINALLY A SKILL!"
System:Reminder: Only skills from offspring pregnancies can stack passively.
"OH COME ON."
Still, a weak fireball is better than none.
I burned a stick immediately.
Mudnut cheered.
Blib fell in another hole.
That Night
I sat by the fire, with Skreeble curled up next to me, Plop on my head, and the whole swamp snoring peacefully.
System pinged.
[Notice: Pregnancy Progress – 10 Confirmed]
"Of course. Who now?"
System: Mudnut's sister.
"…What the hell is wrong with me?"
Plop croaked like he was judging me.