《The Companion And The Hidden System 》全部章節：第 11 章 - 第 20 章

The blood trail led to the cottage, but the prints leading away were twice the size of anything human.Riley crouched low, studying the marks pressed deep into the earth. Three sets, maybe four—hard to tell where one ended and another began. Whatever had come through here hadn't bothered covering its tracks, and that told him more than he wanted to know about how confident it had been.He straightened slowly, his gaze lifting toward the structure ahead.From a distance, it had looked like a simple cottage, something small and self-contained, the kind of place you might pass without thinking twice about. But up close it told a very different story. One entire side of the building had been torn open, not collapsed over time or worn down by neglect, but split apart in a way that suggested force—something large pushing through it without resistance, snapping beams and tearing stone loose as if the walls had never been meant to hold it back in the first place.Riley moved closer, his steps

The club never landed.Jeremiah's blade caught it—barely—the impact driving him to one knee as wood splintered against steel. His arms shook from the force, every muscle screaming, but he held.For now.The ogre raised its weapon again, and this time Jeremiah knew his guard wouldn't hold.Riley's arrow took it through the throat before the second blow could fall.The creature collapsed mid-swing, its massive body crashing to the earth with a tremor that shook the ground beneath them.But there was no pause.No moment to breathe.The second ogre surged forward the moment the first collapsed. Its heavy frame drove across the ground, each step shaking the earth as it closed on Jeremiah.Jeremiah met it head-on, stepping into the strike rather than giving ground, his blade rising in a tight, controlled motion that redirected the blow just enough to keep it from crushing straight through him. The impact ringing out low and heavy as his footing shifted under the force but held.Riley couldn

"What did they drop?"Those were the first words out of Jeremiah's mouth when he woke. Not 'where am I' or 'what happened' or even 'is my daughter safe'—just a direct question about loot, asked with the kind of clarity that suggested he knew exactly what kind of world this was.Riley had been checking his inventory when the man's eyes opened, the last of the ogre drops settling into place, and for a second he thought he'd misheard him."…what?" he said.Jeremiah didn't repeat himself like it was a strange question. He pushed himself up slowly, deliberately, one hand braced against the ground as the other came up briefly to his side, testing, checking, his expression tightening slightly before settling again.Then his gaze lifted—not to Riley, but past him, locking onto the cave entrance with sharp focus."My daughter," he said."She's here," Riley replied, turning slightly as the girl moved into view again, already at Jeremiah's side before the words had fully settled.She dropped bes

The resistance hit Riley between one step and the next.Subtle at first, easy to dismiss as fatigue. But it spread too quickly for that. A weight settled into his limbs, tightening his movements in a way that had nothing to do with injury.Dawn.It hadn't broken yet, but it was close enough.Riley exhaled quietly as he pushed forward, testing the feeling rather than fighting it. He let the difference settle so he could measure it, not just react."It wasn't just slower.It was resistance.Like walking through water.Like the world itself pushed back just a little more with every movement.He flexed his fingers as he moved. The fluidity that had carried him through the night faded with each passing minute—reactions dulling, body growing heavier. Not from his gear or the ores in his inventory.This was the cost.During the night, he could keep up.Out here.In fights like that.But during the day—that margin disappeared.Riley adjusted his grip on the knife. The trees thinned ahead, th

The alarm pulled him out of sleep harder this time.Riley reached for his phone without opening his eyes fully, silencing it before the sound had a chance to settle into the room. For a moment, he stayed where he was, letting the heaviness sit in his body rather than fighting it.It hadn’t gone.If anything, it had settled deeper.He exhaled slowly and pushed himself upright, rolling his shoulders as he sat there, feeling the stiffness linger in his arms and back, the dull reminder of something his body still hadn’t quite decided was real or not.“…still feels like I’ve done something, I'm still aching” he muttered quietly.Not sore in the usual way.Just… used.Like he’d actually been moving for hours instead of sitting still.He stood and made his way into the kitchen, movements slower than normal but steady, his mind already waking up even if his body hadn’t quite caught up yet.The kettle went on without thought.Same mug.Same coffee.He didn’t bother rinsing it, just added more