Catgirls And Dungeons
Chapter 237: Inky our hero!

Chapter 237: Inky our hero!

"Woaaahh, seriously? It was Inky that saved you guys?" I gasp, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yup." Eris nods firmly, a small, fond smile playing on her lips.

She reaches down and gently scratches Inky’s head. Even though it’s not technically a cat, this little darkness spirit sure behaves like one. Right now, it’s curled up lazily on her lap, tail flicking slightly, purring in pure, unbothered bliss.

I reach out and pet it too.

Its body—if you could even call it that—feels strange and soft, somewhere between fur and mist. It’s like brushing your hand through warm smoke. Weightless, smooth, comforting. A shadow made real just for the sake of being cuddly.

"You know," Eris says quietly, her fingers still stroking along Inky’s velvety back, "it was honestly a miracle."

And so she begins.

"Despite my wounds being that severe, the mana-dense atmosphere actually kept them from going bad."

"Oh, that’s so nice!" I breathe in relief.

"Yeah," Eris nods, her voice steady, but a bit distant, as if recalling the memory was still a bit surreal.

And by "going bad," I assume she means infection. But in this world, people don’t have words like ’bacteria’ or ’antibiotics.’ So she wouldn’t know exactly why things healed or worsened, just that they did.

"So... it healed on its own?" I ask.

"Yup," Eris confirms. "And not just our bodies, either. The mana down there... it didn’t just saturate the air, it sank into us. It replenished our cores, little by little, while we rested and meditated."

"Right!" I exclaim, suddenly connecting the dots. "It’s because of the darkness mana! It matches your attribute!"

"Exactly," she says with a nod. "If it had been any other element, for example, fire, wind, anything... we wouldn’t have recovered. The mana would’ve rejected us. But because it was darkness, it actually nurtured us. Helped us heal. By the second week, most of our wounds had closed. I could stand again. I could move again."

Her voice turns quiet again.

"But even then... we still couldn’t leave."

I frown. "Because of the monsters?"

She nods. "Yeah. The shadow creatures that roamed the temple were still there, and we were in no shape to fight, not with our mana cores still damaged and our stamina all over the place. It was like being locked in a cage... where the bars were invisible but everywhere."

"Right..." I mutter, sinking into thought. "So I guess that’s when Inky came in and saved the day?"

"Exactly," Eris smiles gently. "Without Inky, we wouldn’t have made it. We were still too weak to return on our own. If we’d stayed there too long, we probably would’ve died."

"But how did you meet him?" I ask next, curiosity flaring as I glance at the tiny, purring spirit in her lap.

So far, in everything Eris had told me, Inky hadn’t made a single appearance until the very end. Which was strange. Was it actually a monster that lived inside the dungeon? Some kind of guardian, maybe?

And if that were the case... how on earth did Eris tame it?

"It was another coincidence," Eris says, her eyes lighting up with the memory.

"I remember... we were going through our stuff again, desperate for anything useful. Bandages, food, even scraps of mana crystals... anything. We even started rummaging through Lucian’s belongings, hoping he’d left something behind we could use."

She pauses, then lifts a hand to her chest.

"And then... we found this."

She unclasp the chain from around her neck and held it out for me to see. It’s a delicate silver necklace, with a polished purple gemstone at its center. A soft glow pulses faintly from within.

"That’s where Inky lives now," she explains. "But at the time, we had no idea what it was. It just looked like another fancy trinket Lucian hoarded."

"But the moment I picked it up, I felt something. Like a soft tug in my chest. A whisper. A voice I couldn’t hear with my ears, but one I felt, as if there was a soul inside it. A cry for help. I asked Larpard, but he didn’t sense anything. Just thought I was imagining it."

"But the more I held it... the louder that presence became. Like it was reaching out to me."

She clutches the pendant gently now, as if remembering that strange sensation.

"There was this warmth, almost like instinct. And I just... knew. It wanted my mana. Needed it."

"So I gave it some. Even though I barely had anything left, even though I could barely stand, I let it flow. Just a trickle."

"And then it happened."

Her eyes shimmers a little as she spoke.

"The gem glowed, brighter and brighter. Then woosh! Out came this tiny shadowy puffball! Confused, dazed, and so, so small."

"Woaaaahhh!" I exclaim, leaning forward. "Just like that?!"

"Yup! Just like that!" Eris laughs. Though Inky was way smaller back then. Like, you could fit it in a teacup. It couldn’t even float right. Kept bonking into the walls. Haha"

"It was weak," she continues, "but then, in that dungeon, with the abundance of darkness mana, it was like a fish released back into the sea."

"Inky opened its mouth and swallowed a huge amount of mana! It even devoured all the black crystals and black lightning from the pillars!"

"It grew fast! So fast it scared us a little, honestly. And in the end, it became the Inky you see today. Then, by shifting into its shadow wyvern form, it carried us both out of that hellhole. It was incredible!"

"Uwahhh... so that’s how you met Inky," I breathe, smiling brightly as I reach over to pet the spirit’s head. "Thank you so much, Inky... for saving my girlfriend."

"Nyannn~!"

It responds with a proud little mewl.

Again... it’s not a real cat.

But with how warm it feels, how loyal it is, how gentle it curls into the person it loves...

It might as well be one of the cutest, most amazing creatures I’ve ever seen.