Chapter 2

At the next village, he eagerly sought out the food merchant, buying every pie in the man's inventory. As he bit into the first, the Voice thundered in a disapproving tone. *Pies cause weight gain, which will decrease your stamina and speed. Eat a celery stalk to reverse these effects.* "Are you kidding?" he thought. "Reverse these effects? No way! I want to increase these effects!" He realized that for the first time, he wanted to do something other than fighting - he wanted to get hugely fat!

As the Voice droned on about evil something-or-other and the whatsit-of-light that could defeat it, a plan began to form in his head. If he continued to eat and got really hugely fat, he would be useless to the Voice as a warrior! It might let him go and find someone else to save the world time and again. Hero realized that he would need money to make his plan work. He'd seen houses and businesses for sale, but his money had always gone to the shiny new weapon or burnished armor. He resolved to save every penny to go toward his plan.

As the weeks went by, Hero's money bag filled slowly with gold. He still ate pies, but only with other 'healthy' food, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the Voice. He looked forward to the day when he could eat with abandon, filling himself to bursting and feeling the fat swell his body. He bought houses and rented them out, bought businesses and saved the profits. Finally, his day arrived.

He sauntered casually into town, strolling nonchalantly to the food vendor. He knew he would need to work fast. He bought every fattening thing on the merchant's list, and began to rapidly stuff his mouth with the enormous feast in front of him. The Voice sounded alarmed. *Weight gain increasing rapidly. Speed down to 62%, stamina down to 54%. Lower speed and stamina will decrease your effectiveness in battle. Eat carrots to stop weight gain.* Hero ignored the Voice - he was in ecstasy, gorging himself on all the delicious treats and feeling his waist expand and expand. When he stopped long enough to look down, he was shocked by the change. His belly had spread out in front of him, and he estimated that he weighed easily three times as much as he had when he started. The thought made him groan, and he continued to force the delectable pastries into himself at a frenzied pace. *Weight gain reaching irreversible levels. Speed down to 36%, stamina down to 29%. To be capable of continued questing, eating must stop.* Hero thought he heard a tone of desperation in the Voice's words, but oddly, the Voice seemed fainter somehow as well. He maintained the swift pace of his gluttony in the face of the Voice's dire warnings. Now he was fatter than any person he had ever seen - his huge round belly fell nearly to his knees, his soft fleshy chest resting on top of it. His legs and arms had thickened with flab, and jiggled with the movement of his continued gorging. In fact, every part of him was covered in shaking blubber.

As he came to the last pie, he could just make out the Voice on the edge of his hearing. *Weight gain at irreversible level. Speed and stamina too low for continued adventuring. Game over...* With that last cryptic remark, the Voice was gone. Hero waddled slowly over to the nearby fountain and stared with wonder at his reflection. He was now as wide as he was tall, with soft flesh overflowing every part of his body. His face was round and soft, with plump chins cascading down to his chest. He reached thick fingers out to the water, scarcely believing that this was his image. At last the thought percolated through his amazement - I'm free! No more rescues, no more wandering, no more fighting! His corpulent face beamed back at him from the surface of the pool.

Months later, he was sitting in the sun near the village market. He was now so enormous that he could barely stand, and the eight strapping young men carrying his sedan chair had helped him into the immense custom made reclining chair. His fortunes had grown as vast as his waistline and his appetite, and now he did little but gorge himself on fattening food and enjoy his expanding body. The sound of a sword being sheathed caused him to look up from his current gigantic 'snack'. There was a young man - muscular, serious expression, undoubtedly valorous - negotiating with the weapon merchant for a shiny new mace.

Hero's belly rippled and wobbled as he chuckled to himself.