Mau arrived early the next morning while X gathered the farmers’ family remains in a pile away from the farmhouse door. 

“Ekk’s, what are you doing with those?” Mau gestured at the family’s corpses.

“I’m tired of seeing their remains every time I open the door.”

“You have some fucking strange sensibilities. Has anyone ever told you this?”

“No, it’s the first time someone actually says I’m sensible,” the elf said, visibly confused.

“Huh... really?”

“Not even the smell bothers you?”

“Mmm...” Mau shook his head. “Come inside, see what I bought.” 

Mau carried one bag on each shoulder, which he dropped inside the farmhouse and proceeded to take out their contents over the table.

“I bought my precursors,” the male gnome eyed three bottles filled with dusts, “several empty steel casings...” 

X got a hold of one bottle. “Ah, the nutty dusts.”

“Careful... While these are not mixed yet, caution is necessary.” Mau took the bottle from X’s hand and carefully placed it back on the table. “I also bought a few scrolls. One never knows when those might come in handy, and a bag of bread.”

“Only one bag of bread?”

“Yeah...”

“It’ll only last us about one day.”

“So? We can just go and take whatever we need from whoever we want. That’s why I spent most of it on my precursors.”

“Sure... You brought what I told you?” X gazed into the gnome’s eyes.

“Now this,” Mau brought out a small bag, “was truly a waste of resources.” He handed the bag to X.

“It’s called an investment.” The elf opened it and saw its contents. “Good.”

The rest of the morning X scouted more of their territory until he reached the riverbanks of Felpein River. Once again, he splashed in its shallow shore. After spending weeks deep under a thick coat of grime, he wouldn’t waste any more time and decided to bathe every day if possible.

Back at the farmhouse, he found Mau working in the kitchen on his nutty dusts. X joined him in his pursuit of knowledge. 

“What are you doing?” the elf inquired.

“Alchemy.”

“Something like magik?”

“No. Quite the contrary. Alchemy is for those that lack magik.”

“But I’ve seen you cast.”

“The basics, that’s all I can do. For the rest, I dabble in the lost and unappreciated alchemical arts.”

X’s eyes shone, and his smile grew wide. 

“Where do the dusts come from?” the redheaded elf asked.

“This light blue one, from an inkal’li, fearsome three-legged magikal beasts. The violet dust is derived from a certain kind of flower, the tani. But this,” he pointed to the bottle nearest to him, “the one that gives a slight glow, is our catalyst, and it comes from pulverizing portents.”

“Interesting. And of course, depending on the portions and what you mix, you’ll get different results. Mmm... So what do you use the magikal words for? On the glowing inscriptions.”

“That’s the trigger. Without them, I’d have to come up with another way of activating the final concoction.”

“Handy...”

Mau and X kept talking about alchemy while the elf dutifully observed him working. Like a kid in a candy shop, X wanted to taste every possible snack and its combinations. He pelted Mau with a barrage of questions. As dusk fell, tired from working and answering questions, the gnome stopped his alchemical work. Mau lay on a bed while X’s eyes remained glued to those nutty dusts that had been mixed in different proportions, taking on new properties, colors and glows, and now rested inside round steel shells.

[If I remember correctly, the last time you mixed shit, you burned your left arm]

Not every experiment can be a success.

The hallucination appeared beside him, looking at the filled round casings.

[Are you talking about the Gods putting you here...? Oh, you weren’t. I do wonder. You know exactly where this path leads and still stubbornly walk it all over again.]

No. You’re wrong. Not stubbornly.

[Just don’t burn the other half of your face, I do like that one.]

Heh... 

“Hey Mau!”

“What is it?”

“Nila’s coming back, right?”

“She is. You know how gals are these days. I’d be surprised if she didn’t spend everything on clothes, makeup or a new haircut.”

X sighted. “Well... she did her part. She can do whatever she wants with her slice of the haul.”

Mau stared at him.

“I prefer us to be practical, you know. We’re just starting out... but it’s fine by me.”

X rested on a bed. During these calm days, the afternoons slowed down to a crawl, and he forced himself to slog through them. They both ate some more bread before going back to rest. The elf had grand plans for this life, just as he had before but were cut short before coming to fruition. Their supplies wouldn’t last long and that forced him to act. In the end it wasn’t a bad arrangement for him; he didn’t like to fall into a false sense of security, dull his senses, and fall victim to anything other than his own growing ambitions. X had also found a hobby, a career path not unlike in his last life where he experimented days on end. On this peaceful night he dreamed of a possible future and a potential end for himself. 

The next morning he woke up early, took the bag Mau had bought for him, and went towards the burnt part of the fields. He took a fistful of seeds and spread them all over that patch of land. Diligently and with care, he laid a thin layer of ash over the seeds. He sweated thick drops, thinking she would appear but didn’t. 

A pair of voices interrupted his morning activity.

“Ekk’s, you woke up early.”

“Nila, you’re finally--”

But she didn’t come alone. A hellish nightmare walked beside her.

With a flattened skull, four big eyes—two on each side—an elongated snout ending in two opposing tendrils that moved freely, and hiding a small row of teeth on a jaw that pressed down into an almost non-existing chin, the creature wobbled along its whole body. Covered in monotone gray modular scales that protruded from its flesh, enveloping its body, six distinctive limbs stood out from several others along its tender torso. It stood doubling Nila’s size.

“By the demon-gods, what is that?!” X asked, disgusted by the being before him.

“An old acquaintance. I found her roaming near Kargraz and stopped for a chat, and a drink...” 

“That’s a she? I though it was... nah, I don’t know what I though. Uff...” X felt a pinch of regret having called those freaks back at Saint Jaulea monsters. But soon a chilly wind blew his regrets away.

“She’s a chit’t--” 

“A dreg!” Mau interrupted Nila, shouting from the farmhouse door as he approached them starkly naked.

“Hey! Cover up, you asshole. We have guests.”

“Where?” Mau scanned the horizon.

“And what the hell are you doing naked?” Nila inquired.

“I was changing.”

“Then finish changing before coming out,” the female gnome chastised him.

“I heard your ruckus! And to my surprise, what do I find outside, a dreg. And, oh, by Ferrallias’ circlet. We did try to pacify them, bring them civilization, the best of gnomes. But no. It’s simply not possible. All dregs are truly the sub-races of sub-races.”

“We failed because you wanted to create your fucking kingdom right in the middle of a giant hive of theirs! Remember!? You even demanded you’d be given their queen!”

“You did that?” X asked.

“Of course I did! But mind you, it was.... what were they?”

“Arreces,” Nila interjected.

“Yes! Arreces. But those are more like us, you get me?” Mau gazed at the elf.

“No, I don’t.” Looking at the dreg before him, X’s imagination failed him trying to conjure what other nightmares lurked in this world.

“Those fuckers didn’t like that. They didn’t comprehend my dream: the mind of a gnome in the body of an arrece. Truly mind-blowing! My own army.... Imagine!” Mau’s eyes shined, his chest inflated proudly before giving them a disappointed look. “What a shame that didn’t pan out...” 

“So what is she?” X asked.

“A chit’tan,” Nila answered.

“Hmm... and does your friend have a name?” the elf inquired, studying the dreg.
 
“I... can’t pronounce it correctly.”

“No one can pronounce one of their damned names,” Mau interjected.

Ignoring his gnome partner in crime, Nila continued. “It’s something like... Klarttsxo.”

X saw the chit’tan shrug. “Let her say it,” the elf said.

The trio turned towards the female chit’tan.

“Khrtsczscsh!” At times, the dreg’s guttural enunciations sounded like words.

“Khlatksixa?” asked Mau.

The dreg shrugged.

“I told you, Klarttsxo,” Nila corrected him.

And the female dreg shrugged again.

“Ekk’s right, that’s not her name.” Mau stated and then asked again, “Kraltzacszi?” 

She twisted her face in disgust.

“Khratzika?” X guessed. 

That name didn’t make her shrug and what X thought was a smile formed on her nightmarish visage.

“Wait! You’re not Klarttsxo?” Nila asked surprised.

Khratzika hid her head inside her hunched back. Only her tendrils stood out.

“Oh, I didn’t need to see that.” X got a nasty gift imprinted on his retina.

“Aw hell, you’re not her.... But it doesn’t matter, you all look and act the same anyway,” Nila exclaimed.
 
“Wait till you see the other dregs...” Mau turned to the disgusted elf. “You’ll get accustomed to them, Ekk’s.”

X understood then why everyone called them dregs.

Nila immediately passed to more pressing matters. “You see any difference?”

“Yes. Your hair, clothes and makeup,” X answered.

“How’d you know?”

“Just a lucky guess,” the elf replied.

“I look that prettier? You can say it, no need to be shy... I don’t bite.” 

“You look like you always do, great! An exemplary specimen of our race!” Mau began to pump themselves.

“Damn it! Of course I do!”

“Wait, wait, before all this gets out of hand, did you bring something... useful?” X asked.

“It’s like you don’t know me,” Nila exclaimed.

“I don’t see any bag,” X commented.

“Let’s go inside and I’ll show you.” Nila gestured towards the house.

The group stepped inside the farmhouse. Khratzika moved into the center, near the table and bent forward. From inside her hunch, a bag dropped.

“Nice ain’t it? She told she’d carry it for me,” Nila smiled.

“Not... bad,” X said.

“For a dreg,” Mau chimed in.

Nila spilled the contents of the bag on the table. Those didn’t amount to much.

“Blades for my Sweeper Hand and some empty casings,” she stated.

“No dusts?” Mau asked.

“Why should I? I knew you’d get those.”

“Okay.”

“And food? You brought us no food?” X asked.

“Wait, I haven’t finished.”

Khratzika bent again. Two medium-sized pieces of meat dropped on the floor.

“Salted britinga meat. My favorite,” Nila grinned.

“Well thought of!” Mau exclaimed.

X didn’t complain anymore after the meat, which stayed logged inside the dreg for gods-know-how-long, finally got some fresh air. He had decided to let himself go with the flow of this bizarre world.

“See, we’re reliable Ekk’s. You shouldn’t doubt your fellow gnomes,” Nila said.

“You being a gnome yourself!” Mau added, filled with confidence.

Khratzika interrupted them. “You. Fellow. Gnome?” She stared at the elf.

“Eh?”

“She’s asking if you are a gnome... she’s a little slow,” Nila stated.

“All dregs are,” Mau added.

“Ahh...,” X shook his head. “No--” 

“Of course he fucking is!” Mau raised his voice.

X shrugged at Khratzika and she responded with what appeared to be giggling to him. Mau went towards the back to dress himself while Nila rested on a bed. “I walked too much!”

Khratzika addressed X. “Doing outside?”

“What?” X asked.

“She wants to know what were you doing outside,” Nila said.

“Planting flower seeds,” the elf replied.

“What the fuck for?” Nila raised her head.

“See. I told you it was waste of money,” Mau chimed in.

“An investment...,” the elf softly said.

“Don’t know about that Ekk’s, but I do know my stomach’s aching for some food,” Nila said upon standing up.

“Me too! We gnomes need to keep ourselves well-fed. Bring it!” Mau seconded her.

And the meat wasn’t half bad as X had expected, a little too salty but otherwise fulfilling and edible. Khratzika didn’t accept their invitation to eat, instead, she asked them for permission to eat what lay outside. After finishing their breakfast, they stepped onto the porch with her. The female chit’tan called them towards the family’s remains.

“I. Eat,” she pointed at the half-rotting remains.
 
“Eww...!” Nila expressed her disgust at her request.

“What the-- Those are putrid and...” X saw Khratzika’s eyes glazing, shining, expecting. “They are all yours. It’s on us. Your feast... don’t choke on... go ahead and splurge on those...”
`
Without waiting, Khratzika dropped down and crawled towards the family’s mutilated and rotting corpses. Like a vicious beast she crunched bone and savored that foul meat.

“...pesky remains-- Ah crap, I don’t need to see this either,” the elf commented.

“Yeah, me neither,” Mau seconded him.

“Then what are you two assholes waiting for?” Nila addressed her companions. “Leave a lady eat in peace and come inside to--”

 “Plan Del’vhario’s next hit!” X interrupted, taking the words out of her mouth.