Zane looked at the cat. "It's not a surprise that you killed that lowly knight faster than I killed my opponent. I was fighting a champion, someone who is far above a knight."
"Champion, knight, it doesn't matter. I would have killed him just as quickly. These rats all are the same; they just fall beneath my claws. I, at least, wouldn't have ended up almost dying."
Zane clicked his tongue with a hissing sound. "What do you mean, almost dying? I'm standing here with no wounds; I didn't almost die."
"No, you dropped your sword and shield on purpose just to lull it into a false sense of security so that you could get close to it. That's totally how it went, isn't it?" The cat said sarcasticly
Zane arched his eyebrow. "Well, that may have not been exactly how I meant it to go, but the result is the same; I'm alive and it's dead."
"Overall, yes, the fact that you are alive and its dead is the most important thing. However, we are talking about the details. How efficient were you at killing that thing? I waltzed over here, knocked this thing to the floor, bit its tail in half, and then broke its neck. There was no doubt that I dominated it. Whereas you lost your sword and shield and we're about to get sliced in half until you did that thing with your hands and mana. What the heck did you do there?"
Zane shrugged. "I blocked it with a solid piece of mana."
The cat shook its head. "Mana doesn't work that way, at least not in this world. Unless it's refined into something else, mana is fragile. Mana Shields are rarely used because they don't block much. Yet what you were doing was absorbing tons of damage. How do you do it?"
"It's part of a skill I came here with. The skill is called parkour. It's to help my agility and movement. It allows me to create these platforms that I can push off of."
"I've seen you use that in fights, and I didn't think that you'd be able to just keep it stuck to your hand. When did you start doing that with this skill?"
Zane thought for a moment. "Shortly after I arrived on this world, but before you showed up."
The cat started walking over to him. "Cast one of those things and let me look at it."
Zane stuck out his hand and activated his parkour skill. The shimmering blue of the mana platform formed in front of his hand, and the cat came up to it, even pressing her nose against it and then licking it. She then lifted a claw and tapped it, tapping it with increasing strength until some small cracks started to form across its surface. She looked even closer at it. "Let it disappear."
Zane hooked it to the air in front of his hand and put his hand down, and it disappeared almost immediately. The cat sniffed around the area where the mana platform had been. "That dissipated far quicker than I thought it would. Can you make it last longer after it's detached from your hand?"
Zane nodded and summoned another platform at his hand, pumping mana into it so that it would last 10 seconds after he let it go. He let it go, and the cat wandered around it before it disappeared.
"That is not how mana is supposed to operate in this world. I know mana changes from world to world in slight ways, but in this world, mana dissipates and cannot hold its form. That's why mana Shields are almost pointless; they fracture so fast. This one you have here is layered and almost has a crystalline structure to it. It's a matrix of cross-sections and reinforcing structures within it, yet it disappears very quickly. Can you make it so that I can step on these?"
Zane shrugged. "I have no idea. I imagine you could, considering that I can just leave it there. Do you want to try?" The cat nodded. He put both his hands flat and made two platforms, putting enough mana into them to maintain them for 20 seconds. He moved his hands and the cat immediately jumped onto the two platforms with her hind to feet. She then jumped down and stood up, placing her two front legs on the mana plates, extending her claws and scratching along the surface. She looked at him. "What else can you do with these things?"
Zane spread his hands out, giving her an apologetic look. "I don't know. I haven't had much time to test and experiment."
"Oh, we're going to be doing a lot of experiments. This is fascinating." The two mana platforms disappeared, and she settled back onto the floor, looking at him.
"Before we do that, however, I need to go over some things with you. God of this world wants me to explain certain things and certain upgrades that you are going to get, now that you have completed this dungeon."
"I'll be happy to know all that, but I do have one question before we continue," Zane said. "Why have you not been talking to me normally? You obviously can talk and yet all you've been giving me is meows, which I had to make up your meaning."
"Well, you got my meaning right every single time, so I don't think it was you imagining it. As for why I haven't been talking to you, I can't in a kitten form. That mouth is just not the right size and shape for words. It worked out though, and I'll probably be spending more time in that shape. Once you get into the towns and cities of this world, I'm not going to be able to wander around in this form. People would either run screaming from me or try to kill me, neither of which I appreciate."
Zane gave her a hard look. "Are you sure you aren't just being a cat and being lazy?"
The cat leaned back its head and tilted it, its eyes going wide. "Cats are not lazy. We are very efficient in our energy use."
"Tell yourself what you need to tell yourself. I know how it really is."
The cat's gaze sharpened, and it leaned forward close to his face. "Are you sure you want to continue down this train of thought? It might be detrimental to your health."
"Keeping quiet will be detrimental to my sanity." Zane responded with a big smile. Neither of them said a word as they both stared into each other's eyes. After a few moments, they both started laughing.
"Human, I am looking forward to traveling with you. Though I may have to smack you every now and then."
Zane gave her a small bow. "As long as I can smack you back."