Chapter 2: Latter (2).

A chill ran through Titus' spine as he shuddered at the ghastly face of the rabid dog. Titus' impish* instincts tells him to run however he was not an animal. Titus was a human in the former and just woke up in the body of an animal as the latter, so he was not as dumb to follow this instincts.

Titus was currently conflicted inside his thoughts as his brain had started working at fast pace calculating possible ways and their consequences along and with making it as logical as possible. Titus thought into his mind. 'The river is long and flowing mildly so and it is I assume the primary source of water of the creatures living nearby. However since in this world, purely basing on the fantasical setting' s common sense, the river could also house some underwater creatures and will put me more into a disadvantage on footing than facing the rabid dog. If, there happens to be none around at the moment I jumped then it would be great as I have avoided the dog. But another issue will arise because since it is 'rabid' it's much more stupid than a normal dog and will wait till the end of time to wait for me, it's prey, and during that time frame I would not be able to grasp an opportunity to ashore instead the dog will just continue and may even attract more creatures. Having the above said, the only other way I can think for right now is using what I, my body, is good at. I already identified when I was running and the information given that my greatest strengths that will supplement me in this crisis is my speed and dexterity and my claws. Next is the disadvantage, it is possible that I can't outrun the dog since again it's rabid and due to that it has enhanced strength and as for my greatest 'strength' then it will be rendered useless and I will be overcomed not to mention using my claws in the first place. Thinking about it-' Titus paused his thinking and moved only his eyes to look at the ground and also in his peripherals there is water after that he once again resumed.' Yes, even though it's rabid its still a dog in the end and is afraid of water, the reason I wanted to jump in the river in the first place as it can't follow me, and adding to that idea... The moist ground, close to mud, is a good way for irritation.'

Thinking up to that point Titus heaved a deep breath and focused his two eyes straight into the rabid dog.

Although Titus' contemplation of the situation seemed long but in reality it was done in less than five seconds. As to why he could do that? It's natural, for further explanation try this analogy(for future chapters sake), try speaking a sentence using only your thoughts and record the time how long you you did it. Now, do the same thing and repeat the same sentence but instead using your mouth to speak. The conclusion is that the thoughts in your mind is faster than actually doing it. Although it does apply to Titus executing his thoughts but remember he is an imp.

Titus used his dexterity and quickly changed the direction of where his left hand is and used his speed to scoop up water while his right hand did the exact same thing but with the mud/soil on the ground. Technically he was able to this multitasking even if his current level is zero as it is equivalent to him back when to his normal, being human. It is not impossible to execute since this kind of action did not divide its attention because although Titus was doing this simultaneously, the action done was the same in execution thus not needing to do the above.

Swinging his left arm and splashing the water scooped from the river right into the rabid dogs face, Titus was able to achieve his desired result, to shock the rabid dog. Since the dog was in a stunned state Titus was able to slide underneath the rabid dog (note that he is an imp, a small creature compared to to a dog or rabid dog in this case). Having his left hand free Titus used it to balance his small stature and posture his right arm and aimed right at the dogs neck. Titus' right hand held the dirt in his palm in a bowl shape to avoid it spilling and bent his fingers akin to that of an eagle as the claws protruded out.

Rip* sounds of ripping followed suit as Titus was continuing to slide through the semiliquid soil while leaving tracks of blood and moist dirt as he got further. Blood splattered everywhere as soon as Titus claws met with the dogs neck and ripped it apart continuing until its belly.

Finally Titus stopped sliding and used the momentum gained from the stop and did a front flip. When Titus landed he began to run to the nearest tree and started climbing it in a quick fashion totally displaying his forest imp's race' specialty. Stopping halfway, on a branch Titus heaved as a big sigh of relief came because his planned worked.

Quietly peering through the short distance, Titus saw the rabid dog turning around and started dashing straight to Titus' tree. Upon seeing the rabid dog approaching the tree he was in, Titus however did not worry as he knew exactly what was happening.

While dashing to the tree the rabid dog spilt more blood on the ground making the dry soil moisten, apparently it already left the shore of the river as the soil was already dry at some point. When the dog was at the trees footing the dog tried to used its paws to climb the tree. However it was nothing all but a futile attempt as it can never climb up, why? Although it is not impossible for four legged animals to climb a tree the current situation was not at all favorable to the dog as from the neck upto its belly was a long gash of claw marks rendering it unable to put strength in its whole body much less its legs.

After a couple of rounds of attempted climbing the rabid dog suddenly stopped and let out a wail, as it started flailing about. Titus who was watching from the above grinned as he saw that the mud technique had started working. Even though the gash was not deep it was also not shallow thus the rabid dog was not able to put strength but if combined with the mud then there will be an opposite effect. When the mud was applied an irritation was build up on the wound, and no matter how shallow a wound is it cannot escape germs and bacteria, thus the rabid dog could only flail about splashing and spilling even more blood as the rapid dog applied pressure on its wound.

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Baam* The body of the dog fell to the ground flat after an hour of struggling. Even though it was already suffering so much then again it's rabid as it still did not gave up on Titus and chose on staying at the foot of the tree until it drew its final breath. 'The stupid dog finally died!' Titus exclaimed inside his mind. There are three major factors why the dog died. First is due to exhaustion which was obvious on how long it struggled. Second is due to bacterial infection that came from the mud on the wound as Titus desired to happen when he scooped up the mud and since there was an opening from the neck it immediately got up to the brain much faster if not then the dog could have survived longer but still will face inevitable death though. Third is due to blood loss because no matter how shallow the wound from the claws is the blood would still leak out just in a slower pace but with the flailing causing the rabid dog to add pressure on the wound made it accelerated again the inevitable as it is bound to happen just that it would just take much longer rather than just an hour.

And there it concluded the fight between Titus and the rabid dog, and Titus emerged victorious using his knowledge. Titus who was preparing to climb down paused when suddenly he heard familiar sounds-

Ding*

Ding*

Ding*

Ding*

Ding*