Feeling the unfathomable mud beneath his feet, William Carter suddenly had an idea. He grabbed the tall grass by the shore to climb up, picked up the club that the ogre mage had just thrown, and with a quick turn, tossed it into the pond.

"You idiot, without your club, let's see how you fire your cannon now!"

Watching his club sink into the water, the ogre mage's four eyes glared as if they were about to shoot out flames. But having lost his weapon, his attack power was greatly reduced, and for the moment, he was no match for the demonized antelope with 100 health points.

Of course, the demonized antelope couldn't do anything to him either.

William Carter had no intention of attacking at all. Are you kidding? With 350 health points and 5 armor, even if it stuck out its neck for him to chop, it would take several minutes.

So he simply gave up on attacking. William Carter's eyes rolled, and he started dancing by the pond.

That extremely sleazy butt-wiggling dance, with his backside facing the ogre mage, wiggling and slapping his butt as he went, "Oh, Blue Fatty, you're really naughty, aren't you? I told you not to throw things around. Throwing things is wrong, it pollutes the environment. What if you hit a kid? Even if you don't hit a kid, hitting the flowers and grass isn't good either... See, now look what you've done, your club is gone... How are you going to have a sex life in the future..."

William Carter knew that the ogre mage was fairly intelligent and could use human language. When you select the ogre mage in Dota, it says things like "IGO" and "OK."

Sure enough, the ogre mage went berserk, shook off the antelope, and charged at William Carter like a human tank, its four eyes blood-red, wishing it could devour William Carter alive.

Chapter 9: The Recovery Ring

The ogre mage was strong, but not agile. William Carter waited until it was right in front of him, then dove straight into the pond. The ogre mage couldn't stop in time and plunged into the pond like a car flying off a highway.

With a splash, water shot up over ten meters high.

The ogre mage was just too heavy, especially with those wrought iron arm rings on its arms, which conservatively weighed at least a hundred kilos.

The pond wasn't deep, at most about a meter and a half, but the mud at the bottom had accumulated over countless years and no one knew how deep it was.

The ogre mage couldn't swim at all. After thrashing around in the pond for a while, it finally managed to stand up, only to find that the now-murky water only reached its waist, which immediately put its mind at ease.

Unfortunately, with its intelligence, it couldn't understand that the shallower the water, the less buoyancy, and what awaited it was to be swallowed by the mud.

Everything should have been fine—just wait for the ogre mage to sink into the mud. But unfortunately, William Carter was a terrible swimmer. Dog-paddling frantically, after all that effort he had only managed to swim a little over two meters. The ogre mage had been floundering for a while, but it still wasn't enough time for him to escape.

He made so much noise swimming that the ogre mage couldn't help but notice him. It reached out a big hand and grabbed William Carter's ankle in one go.

With that grab and pull, William Carter felt like his ankle had snapped. The splashing water blocked his vision, but he could still see clearly. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his side as something icy cold stabbed into his body.

William Carter suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and realized he was impaled on the ogre mage's sharp horn.

The ghastly white long horn pierced into William Carter's right rib, slanting through his lung and straight toward his heart.

His health dropped by more than twenty points in a flash—his life was hanging by a thread.

Gritting his teeth, William Carter threw up two daggers with his right hand, caught them with his left, and stabbed fiercely at the ogre mage's eyes.

William Carter was hanging right on the ogre mage's head—there was no way to dodge this attack.

"Awooo—" The ogre mage howled in pain, smashing a huge hand down on William Carter's back. William Carter's body shuddered, and the horn that had already penetrated deep into his abdomen churned up his internal organs into a mess. His health was almost gone.

Purple limit, vitality!

A purple light bathed William Carter's body, instantly healing fifty health points, but the horn still lodged deep inside him prevented the wound from closing.

William Carter was still on the brink of death, his health bar dropping as if it were leaking.

"Little sheep, save me!"

With his just-recovered mental strength, William Carter gave the command. The demonized antelope took a running start and leapt high, right over the ogre mage's head.

Summoning his last bit of strength, William Carter desperately grabbed the antelope's leg. The sharp barbs on the leg hooked tightly onto William Carter's wrist, and with a yank, pulled William Carter off the ogre mage's horn, blood spurting like an arrow.

William Carter spat out another mouthful of blood and crashed heavily into the pond. Fortunately, the antelope was an excellent swimmer and managed to bring William Carter safely to shore.

The blue-limit Mekansm effect had already been used, and with a cooldown of half an hour, it couldn't be relied on for now. Trembling, William Carter took out two Ancient Sacrifices of Aesifi from his inventory and ate them both.

His internal organs were a complete mess, almost making it impossible to swallow.

The effect of Aesifi's Ancient Sacrifice was slow, and the health recovery was minimal. William Carter's life was saved, but the wound wouldn't heal anytime soon—he was in for a world of pain.