She stared at me, looking at me in a mixture of shock and gratitude. Now that she had stood up, I could see her clearly.

She had long blond hair which reached her back, dirtied from her time stuck down here. She had burning orange eyes, and was completely naked.

Wait, what?

I blinked once. Then twice. And then slowly closed my eyes. She was naked...

"Hey...can you take my...jacket off and put it...over yourself?" I slowly asked. I was currently wearing jeans, a shirt and a jacket. She could take the jacket and cover herself up.

"Yeah..." she quietly replied. I felt her take the jacket off of me. I winced in pain during the process. My left arm...

Opening my eyes, she now has the jacket covering her top half. It was just large enough to also cover her second, lower private place as well.

I do have to say though, the view was a good one.

"Pervert." Sally commented, disgust evident in her voice.

Hey, if I'm a pervert, then I'm a gentlemanly pervert. I lent her my jacket after all.

"You unlocked a new skill." Sally suddenly stated, changing the topic.

What?

"The System somehow fused the chains with itself, giving you a new skill." Sally continued.

What? Sally, pull up my [Profile] please.

"On it, Host." Sally replied.

The [Profile] screen popped up in front of me, different from last time.

[Profile]

Name: Jackson Walker

Race: Human

AP: 80

Charm: Level 1

Strength: Level 1

Wisdom: Level 1

Agility: Level 1

[Freerunner] Level 2 - A small urge in the back of your head helps guide you.

[Hollow Wanderer] Level 1 - You can access the mysterious Hollow Realm through special portals.

[Chains of Holy Fire] Level 1 - You can summon and control chains infused with Holy Fire.

I now had three skills. This is so weird...

[Chains of Holy Fire]. Let's use them, and see what happens.

Where my arm was burnt the chain reappeared, but it wasn't on fire. Can I set it on fire?

The chain suddenly burned with white flames, but unlike the last time it didn't burn me. Good. This is awesome! Flaming chain whip!

"N-no way..." gasped the Prisoner.

"What?" I asked, looking over to her. Her face was completely shocked, staring at the chains wrapped around my arm.

Oh, so you like flaming chain whips too?

"You freed me, bearing the curse yourself and overpowering it..." She gasped.

"Huh?" I asked, confused. "Wait, first off, who are you?"

"My name is Angela Ignis, at your service." She said, suddenly kneeling down to me.

"Um...I'm Jackson Walker." I replied. "You can call me Jack."

Huh? Why are you kneeling?

Suddenly two feathery white wings burst from her back, flapping behind her. The wings of an Angel.

"You're an Angel?!" I exclaimed, surprised.

"Yes, I am a member of the proud Angel race." She stated.

Angels exist...

Wait...her name is Angela...and she's an Angel...

How creative.

"Wow...why were you down here? Imprisoned?" I asked.

Angela tightened her fists. "They betrayed me..."

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me..." I responded, seeing her negative reaction. I don't want to bring back any unwanted memories...

Angela shook her head. "No, I owe it to my savior to tell my story."

"I was just like all of the other Angels. Normal. A proud and strong warrior in training. But it was when I hit sixteen everything changed." She spoke.

"Once I hit sixteen, I awoke to a strange power. The power of Holy Fire. It's a special power that can't be harnessed naturally." She explained.

"Yet somehow I could. I could use the power of the Holy Fire, without any help from an item. It was unnatural. It shouldn't have been possible. It made me too strong." She continued.

"And the High Elders feared it. The feared what I could do. They feared that I could overthrow them." Angela snarled.

"So they ordered my imprisonment. My mother and father protested, but nobody heard their cries. The High Elders tricked me, making me infuse cursed chains with my Holy Fire." She added.

"With the curse and my own power against me, the chains easily overpowered me, keeping me locked in this chamber." Angela finished her story, growling.

"That's...terrible..." I muttered. I don't know what to say. That's such a sad thing. She's my age as well. She was just like me, except also training to be an Angel Warrior.

She was stripped of her life because she had a strange power...

"It's fine now. You have saved me." Angela stated.

Well, I'm glad you're feeling better.

"So, thank you. I solemnly swear that I shall repay this debt, by being your loyal knight and servant. From this moment on, my life is devoted to yours." Angela promised, kneeling.

Wait what? I don't need a knight! I'm fine! Seriously, I don't want you to devote your life to me! I want you to find out what you've missed in the world! Go live your own life!

Uh, how can I persuade her? Oh! She said that Angels are proud creatures. If I bring that up, maybe she'll change her mind. 'I'm too proud to be a servant' or something like that!

"Aren't Angels supposed to be proud creatures? Is it okay for you to be doing this?" I asked.

"Of course. Angels will only follow one stronger than them. You managed to control the same chains that have kept me locked up. You are worthy." Angela explained.

Oh, I can't get out of this, can I? It wasn't even me! It was the System!

[Mission] - Find and save The Prisoner of The Hollow in the ravine. Completed.

[Bonus] - Convince the Prisoner to come with you. Completed.

(Claim?)

Well, that confirms it...no getting out of this now...

Sally, claim the mission please.

"Of course, Host." She replied.

The mission was claimed, the screen displaying the message disappearing from my view. Well, that's 120 more AP. Wow. That should be useful...

"You're hurt!" Angela exclaimed, noticing my broken arm.

"Yeah..." I weakly replied.

"If only I could heal..." muttered Angela to herself, biting her fingernails.

The mission's done. Now I should just use

[Hollow Wanderer] and-

A familiar howl stopped my train of thought. But this time, it wasn't faint. No, it was real close. I whirled around, seeing a Corrupted.

Actually, more than one Corrupted.

Three of them.

Three...

Three...

Fear racked my body once more. Memories filled my brain. Of me running, and running, and running. Running because of fear. Fear of them.

"Don't worry! I will take care of them and prove my worth to you!" Angela decided.

Flapping her Angel wings, she suddenly burst forward towards the Corrupted at incredible speeds. Her hand burst into white flames as she slammed it into the skull of one of the Corrupted.

The white flames didn't hurt her, but it did hurt the Corrupted.

The Corrupted went flying backwards, while the other two snarled at their sudden opponent. They lunged at Angela from opposite sides, but her wings also burst on fire, smacking away the two Corrupted.

The first Corrupted came back, running towards Angela, but was quickly punched in it's...stomach? The Corrupted keeled over before Angelica slammed her fist onto the top of the Corrupted's werewolf head.

The Corrupted collapsed onto the ground, before dissolving away into purple dust. She had killed one.

Flashbacks of Anna killing the Corrupted spun through my mind.

I'm really useless, aren't I? Every time, all I do is run. I run, I run, and I run. Every time.

But Anna? And Angela? They were brave. They fought them head on. And in seconds they won.

Angela punched another Corrupted with her flaming fist, before kicking the other one across the face. As she continued to fight, I noticed something creep up behind her.

A third Corrupted?!

It was hiding the whole time! There was actually four all along!

But Angela didn't know that.

It jumped in the air, lunging towards the unsuspecting Angela.

No.

...

No.

...

Every time I run.

...

But not this time.

...

It's time to be brave.

...

[Chains of Holy Fire]!

I shouted these words in my mind, the chains wrapping around my arm and flying towards the third Corrupted.

It wrapped around the Corrupted's waist, allowing me to slam it into the ground. Jumping onto it, I slammed my right fist into its face.

Bam!

...

Bam!

...

Bam!

...

Bam!

...

I sat on top of the Corrupted, punching it over and over again with my right arm.

Again. And again. And again. And again, until it's face was a broken mess.

It slowly crumbled to purple dust under me.l, leaving me on my knees.

I did it.

...

I killed one.

...

Ha.

...

Strange.

...

I don't feel bad. That I just killed it.

...

It actually felt kind of good...

"I'm sorry you had to cover me." I heard Angela apologize from behind me, snapping me out of my train of thought.

"Did you take care of the other two?" I asked.

"I did." Confirmed Angela.

"Good. You're fine. You didn't know there was another one." I stated.

"Thank you!" Angela gratefully replied.

I stood up, looking around. No more sign of any Corrupted. "You want to come with me to my home?" I asked her.

Wait. That sounds kind of weird-

"Really?!" Excitedly asked Angela.

"Uh...yeah." I awkwardly replied.

"[Hollow Wanderer]" I spoke, waving my right arm in front of me.

In front of us a purple portal appeared out of thin air. The exit to getting out of here. Finally.

Alright. Take me back to my dorm room.

I walked towards it, Angela following me. We entered the portal, and upon emerging from the other side we were back in my room.

The portal behind us disappeared, leaving only the two of us in my room. Angela curiously gazed around my room, observing everything.

My door suddenly opened as Anna walked in. "Hello Jac-" She said, before abruptly stopping.

Her face turned to horror, before becoming red with anger.

Huh? What's wrong? Following her gaze, I saw it landed on Angela-

Oh. That's why. She's definitely going to misunderstand this, anime sty-

"JACKSOOOON!!!!!!!" Anna screamed.

"No! Please! It's a misunderstanding!!!!!" I cried out in fear.

Life Lesson: Don't anger a woman. Especially if she is a spider woman.