The hydra watched the dwarves enter the city for a time. They were a raucous race. Uninterested in patience or silence. Something the hydra was gaining more and more appreciation for. Mostly due to the input of Aevum's head. The newest of the heads appreciated the idyllic peace on the edge of the forest. The sounds, the smells, and the sights were something the newly reincarnated soul appreciated.

In this moment of peace, the hydra wanted nothing more than to fully realize the strengths and weaknesses of the Brand. It slunk into a secluded hollow beneath some bushes and began testing.

The first test was simple. Could the movement restriction brand be limited in size or shape? The answer to that was yes, though with a caveat. On its own, the Brand always generated the exact same sphere of limited movement. In combination with the status control Brand, the shape of the brand could be manipulated to a degree. Increasing the total volume of the space was hard, but converting the sphere into a cube or an elongated cylinder was a trivial task. The only difficulty came when choosing extreme shapes; trying to squash the restriction zone into a flat plane was met with resistance.

A warbling bird call broke the relative peace of the forest's edge. It was a sound that the hydra hadn't yet heard. It raised its heads and listened for a moment. Appreciating the new sensations before it returned to its experimentation.

The next experiment was to determine whether Aevum could restrict who or what was affected by the slowing zone. The answer was a swift yes. Without even the need for Max's Brand, Aevum was easily capable of excluding the hydra's body from the slow zone.

With Aevum's Brand better understood, the hydra turned to explore Max's power. With utmost care, the twin heads looked out from under the bush and spotted a small bird preening on a nearby branch. Its status showed that it posed no danger, so the hydra immobilized it with one last careful glance around.

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The sphere manifested, and the bird froze. A moment later, it slipped from the branch to the forest floor. Aevum tracked the fallen bird with the slow field, and then, after a moment of stillness, the hydra approached. The small bird was frozen on the ground, though not completely still. It still struggled as if in slow motion. As the seconds ticked by, the bird's struggles turned to twitching and eventually stilled.

That was interesting. A complete lockdown seemed to suffocate the small creature. It was useful in combat, but the question was whether it would work on a larger predator.

They released the bird of the power, and placed a claw atop it for later. A quick test on Max's head revealed that the slowing effect was strong (at least on small creatures like them), but it wouldn't be able to suffocate anything larger than a rodent, even with the help of Max's enhancing augment.

Next, they attempted to change the contents of the bird's status to the best of their ability. Trial after trial they focused, but every change was at best superficial. Perhaps there was something about affecting another creature, but Max's Brand seemed unable to instill meaningful control over the small bird.

At best, it might be useful for distracting enemies as the hologram could be opaque to the senses.

A warbling whistle broke the silence. An arrow whizzed through the leaves and slammed into the hydra. The shaft was so large that it tore through the hydra's abdomen and trapped it against the hard earth.

The hydra gasped in pain. The twin heads spasmed as agony mixed with blood flooded its lungs. It barely registered a group of six armored battle dwarves who raced out from behind a hillock. Some were wielding bows and arrows, while the leader had a pair of giant black warhammers with blurry runes carved into the head.

The lead dwarf threw off his helmet to reveal a magnificent black beard and a delighted smile.

"Got the smarmy little bugger!" this apparent leader crowed in a language that the hydra somehow understood. "Now--"

A large black warhammer slammed into Max's head, then into Aevum in quick succession.

Darkness.

Huh...turns out. The dwarves patrol their city.

[[The Second Death]]