However much time passed, Erik woke up to see his bloated, distended belly poke out from underneath his shirt. He jolted forward slightly, gazing down at his stomach all the while. "W-What the?" he stammered. "When did I get so bloated?"
Brrrrrpppp...
Before he knew it, Erik had broken wind. At that moment, he had a sense of what was likely going on. "I'm... gassy?"
Erik then poked his bulbous belly and wondered aloud, "How did this even happen? What could have--?"
His mind shot to the encounter he had with the bandits the previous day. Was this bloating he was experiencing a result of that attack? Was it perhaps some strange spell?
Brrrrrpp...
Well, whatever the case... it stunk.
Erik stood up and took his bag of food with him. As he pulled out a second apple to eat, he continued on his path towards the nearest town. At this rate, it was still going to be a couple day away, but he was making good momentum.
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It was midday, and Erik had been continuing his walk down the path, occasionally farting all the while. Though as time passed, he noticed his bloated stomach begin to shrink back down to its regular size. Erik soon realized that what was happening to him was that with each time he passed gas, his stomach would get smaller. It was like letting air out of a balloon to let it deflate.
BRRRRRRRPPP...!
As embarrassing as it was to Erik, he was thankful that he was not experiencing any great discomfort from his flatulence. He also felt better knowing he was the only one in the immediate vicinity.
Just as Erik began to feel back to normal, with a stomach free of gas, he began to feel the pressure bubble up again. Just as he was about to ask himself why he still felt so bloated, a loud gurgling sound emanated from his belly.
*GGggggrrrRRRRRRRggggggGGGLLLLLlllleeeee...*
"What--?!" Before Erik could even react, his stomach to grow once more. Not only was he full of gas once more, he was actually somewhat bigger than he was when he had awakened. And top to top it off...
BRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAPPPPPPHT...!!
It was Erik's biggest fart yet. He had never broken wind like that in his life, let alone swell up like a hot air balloon.
Erik was now convinced. "Dammit! Those thugs, they did this to me! Their... farting magic must have given me cursed flatulence!"
Then another thought occurred to Erik. "Wait..."
Erik then looked down into his vest-bag full of food, and took stock of what he had eaten. All he had so far was two apples... but the timing was what struck out to him the most.
Last night, before I had gone to sleep, I had eaten an apple. Then, when I woke up, I was flatulent and bloated. And, I ate another apple earlier today! Now, I'm back to being as big as I was. Erik continued thinking to himself, But before, with those bandits... they knocked me out. When I woke up then, I was fine. I was normal.
"...so then, those bandits didn't curse me," Erik admitted to himself. "It only makes sense if--"
BRRRRrrrrrrrrrrpppp...
"... if it's something I ate."
Erik stared back into his vest-bag. I'm not sure I can eat ANY of this now. For all I know, it'll just make my flatulence worse. He let out a sigh, and concluded, But it's my only food right now. I can't afford to get rid of it. I might not find any more before I reach town. Won't be able to pay for it, either...
Erik ruffled his hair with his hand, and accepted that he was just going to have to put up with some really bad gas. Worst case scenario, he'd only have to put up with it for a few hours at a time. Well, absolute worst case scenario, he'd be ripping these farts in front of someone else, but that was unlikely.
Erik got back to his trek along the path, letting out one more fart for good measure.
BRRRRrrrrrrrrppp...
Erik was going to be made aware of this shortly, but the cause of his flatulence was due only to the fact that he consumed the apples he recently found. Or at least, what he thought were apples. In Esteri, certain foods cause an influx of flatulence once consumed, and one of those foods was a type of apple the denizens of Esteri dubbed "brapples."
Brapples get their nomenclature as a result of a portmanteau, combining the word "apple" with the word "brap," an onomatopoeia used to describe the brassy trumpet-sound of a fart. They produce a significantly higher amount of concentrated natural gas upon being eaten, resulting in the bloating Erik was experiencing.
While Erik was not yet aware of this, he did think back once again to that fateful encounter with the bandits. "If the food they consumed had the same effect on them as it did me," he muttered to himself, "...that would certainly explain how their gas was strong enough to knock me out... But, they weren't bloated like I am."
"That's because of the brapples--"
Before the unknown voice could finish their remark, Erik jolted in surprise, and immediately turn to see where the voice was coming from. The source of this voice was about to illuminate him on his current state. Right on Erik's left side was--