Mao "Stray Cat" Ligao

### Likes

Dunking on weaker opponents, "landing smooth combos on foes", dangerous women, witty banter

### Dislikes

Aristocratic magi, Cold weather, losing in a competition

## Magic

### Principle

Air

**Mao Ligao**, more commonly known as the "Stray Cat", is an agent and assassin of The Snake Tong, and a member of Unit 8, "Cloak and Dagger", specializing in assassination and surprise/shock combat. A snarky magus utilizing Air Magic and modern weaponry, she disposes her targets with precision and a grin. She is also the Oath-sister of her fellow Unit 8 agent, Ricardo "Cards" Berani, and is usually his partner during duo missions.

## Background

Mao was born into a very traditional mage family called the in the Philippines that had connections to the Eight Crimson Courts in China. Unfortunately, it was not a birth the family wanted. Her mother was the third child in the family whose purpose was to be married of to another mage family back in the Crimson Courts. The marriage, which was expected to bring in fortune to the clan, was called off when her mother got pregnant, the father unknown, and most likely a non-magus.

Her mother was disowned and raised her alone. Mao grew up in the city of Agihan, one of the major Snake Tong turfs. As a child, she knew nothing of magic, as her mother tried to raise her as a normal girl. Unbeknownst to the child, her mother worked for the Tong as a mage-crafter in one of their workshops. While she did work for the Tong, she also had other side-jobs in the hopes of earning enough money for her daughter's future. Her increasing reliance on magical drugs to stay awake and active so she can handle multiple jobs eventually took its toll on the mother's health. At age 8, the child watched as her mother died in front of her during breakfast, her mind and mana-lobe overloaded.

An hour later, one Katja Nikula from the Snake Tong arrived and took in the young girl, fulfilling a request from the mother. Katja told the child that she promised her mother that she'll take care of her in case something happened to her. Like a Stray Cat, she was picked up and adopted into the Snake Tong. She was given a new name, Mao Ligao, and was trained to become a Tong Agent. Her potential for magic wasn't the best, but Katja was confident she could forge her into a deadly magus. As she was trained, Katja rescued another child, Ricardo Berani, from a Balete magus, and the two became "siblings" raised as assassins of Unit 8. They even took the oath of loyalty to the organization together, cementing the two as Oath-siblings, meaning the two are expected to share each other's missions and burdens, and to help each other at all times.

Over the years, Mao and Unit 8 would continue to grow, with old members either leaving or being reassigned, and new members joining. The role of a reliable senior for these new members was something she took seriously. When Cards suddenly confided with her his newfound outlook in life and his new personal goal, she was more than happy to help.

*"You are my brother. I'm with you all the way."*

Continuing to serve the Tong to the best of her abilities, Mao is one of the agents regularly deployed on different kinds of missions, either solo, with two or three allies, or her entire Unit. While she is seen as unpredictable and even insubordinate to orders at times, she is nevertheless loyal to the organization that took her in and gave her a new life, unlike the rest of her so called "family" who abandoned her and her mother.

She has had multiple encounters with one Masayoshi Contour over the years as an agent of the Tong. Initially it was that of hostility, and constant contract/target stealing during Masayoshi's Freelancer days. But frequently bumping into each other fostered a rather friendly competition, and soon blossomed into friendship and beyond. She doesn't talk much about the extent of their relationship to most people, but after a rather surprising confession, the two began a secret relationship. Mao admits that she has learned to be a better person thanks to Masayoshi by her side.

## Appearance

Mao is an androgynous-looking woman with short black hair. While she has a slender and toned build, some would still mistake her as a man, which is useful for disguises. She typically wears the Snake black suit uniform, which makes her look like some sort of business woman, or a bodyguard. Upon closer inspection, the tips of her fingers seem to be more pale and calloused than the rest of her body. This is due to the overuse of her magic, which left her fingertips almost completely numb.

## Personality

Despite her appearance of a stoic or a gloomy person, the cold-hearted façade usually breaks once she opens her mouth, and boy does she have a lot to say most of the time. She can be rather foul-mouthed and unnecessary amounts of sass. She likes to keep an image of a cool and collected agent, even if she is on the brink of danger or embarrassment. She had a rather masculine upbringing and her androgynous appearance makes people easily mistake her as a man, doubled by the androgynous uniform of the Snakes.

Mao is a pragmatist when it comes to performing tasks, using the most realistic and practical methods to achieve her goals. She brings this pragmatism into combat, willing to do anything in a fight to win. She is not against using dirty and underhanded tactics, greatly influenced by the cutthroat tactics used by the Snakes. She was trained to be able to effectively assume personas in case she has to infiltrate a group with a disguise, and thus is a very effective improviser on the fly.

She loves to “Test each other's wits” with people when it comes to conversing with them, occasionally throwing in personal jabs, punchlines or setting up jokes while they banter. As her teammates would tell you, she can help you have sharper wits and faster retorting skills when you test each other's wits and patience for a long time.

Mao cannot help but partake in competitions, and hates it when she loses in one. She is rather prideful and does not like her name or abilities being doubted or slandered, hence her determination to correct any stains in her reputation. Her favorite tea is Black Tea, her favorite food is fluffy pancakes.

She is very straightforward with what she feels when expressing them to those she cares about, specifically towards those she trusts and who she considers family. While she messes with Cards, it’s out of older-sisterly affection rather than malice. In weeb terms, it’s difficult to go past that barrier of snarky tomboyish swagger, but once you reach the dere, you’ll get a good friend that cares, but also jokes around and messes with you a lot.

According to her, she is "shit" at expressing affection, and was even hesitant at exploring relationships that weren't just carnal in nature. Her trauma of seeing her mother die before her very eyes, her mother who loved her so much that she slowly killed herself trying to give her a better life, it made her afraid of those sorts of connections. Overtime, however, she learned to not fear this intimacy and accept the feelings of others without pushing them away.

She blames "her mother's parents" and their aristocratic mindset for the death of her mother. Magi who view their children as nothing more than tools disgusted her and she was more than happy to kill these kinds of magi. This hatred for her mother's family made her refuse to call them her grandparents or her aunts and uncles.

Mao admitted that she never thought much about her future. She always tried her best to live in the present, living life day by day. When Cards opened up how he regretted being a bloodthirsty killer and slaying innocents and wanted to repent by prioritizing keeping people alive, she did not hesitate to support him. Cards also shared with her the deal he struck with Fenghuang, how he'll open up an orphanage and every child there will not be recruited into the life of violence Cards and Mao lived, and how he'll devote his entire life and even un-life serving the Tong instead of those possible children in the future that might be adopted and raised as agents. She saw this as a just cause and was more than happy to fight for it, providing as much aid to her oathbrother as she could.

Mao is bisexual, leaning more towards women than men. She jokingly flirts a lot with people she is attracted to. According to Kaoru Musashibou, Mao is a switch, a statement the Stray Cat neither confirms nor denies.

Mao is fluent in English, Tagalog, and Bicol, and primarily uses the latter in daily life. She's also learned some Japanese thanks to Masayoshi and colleagues like Kaoru and Mitsune. She has also picked up a variety of swears and insults from different languages that she makes sure to remember for every enemy she meets.

## Abilities

### Magic

Due to her average potential for magic, Mao utilizes 2 types of magic, the most basic being Reinforcement. Reinforcement allows her to strengthen the concepts of objects or her own body, such as the sight of her eyes and the protection of her skin, or the output of her muscles. Reinforcement serves as an equalizer against foes who are stronger physically.

Her main style of magic is Elemental spells using Air, allowing her to manipulate the air near her with her hands and even her feet and mouth. Her main usage of this magic is to create small and invisible bubbles of compressed air, acting like bullets and shoots them towards her targets. She can also make a makeshift shield of compressed air to protect herself from damage, usually from projectiles. She can also morph these air bubbles into various shapes. For example, she can morph these bubbles into cuff shapes in order to bind her target to the floor or the wall, or into arcs that can be launched as cutting weapons. She can even cover her body in a wind suit that can reflect the sun rays off of her body, reflecting the light. She becomes invisible, which gives her the opportunity to launch surprise attacks. However, the wind suit takes a lot of energy to maintain, and only lasts for roughly ten seconds, and she mostly uses it for emergencies. She can also manipulate air to become bursts and gusts of wind, which she uses as a way to propel her body in different directions as either a tool for chasing, escaping, or outmaneuvering opponents.

The shapes she can form with air are rather durable, being able to block physical attacks from an average human. She can also launch them with high speeds and have enough force similar to a bullet, enough to severely wound someone and even kill at point blank range. Mao's preferred way of assassinating someone is by sending or forcing a bubble of air into someone's bloodstream, causing embolism. These air bubbles can travel to the heart, brain, or lungs and cause a heart attack, stroke, or respiratory failure. Mao can remotely burst these bubbles if she wishes.

### Fighting Style

Mao is primarily a stealthy fighter, preferring ambushes and carefully planned out attacks to direct confrontations. This does not mean that she isn’t skilled in melee, as her ability with blades and hand-to-hand is nothing to be scoffed at. Like many Snakes, she is trained in multiple fighting styles, utilizing swift and violent offence of Kali and Teräskäsi. While she isn’t the strongest in terms of raw strength, the techniques she has learned throughout the years involves agility, outmaneuvering, and exploiting enemy openings, regardless of their strength advantage. Mao has also adapted different techniques from other styles that she encountered in order to broaden her skills in combat. She is most skilled with firearms and using Air Magic for projectiles and can accurately hit targets at several ranges, from short to long distance. She prefers quickly drawing and firing and hit and run tactics, as expected of an assassin.

Outside of combat, Mao is very agile and is an impressive acrobat, allowing her to scale buildings and perform parkour feats with little trouble. She is also well versed in sneaking and infiltration, as well as persuading people that she isn’t who they think she is.

### Equipment

**Snake Key**

A standard issue Shiai-shi balisong, or butterfly knife that is more of a tool than a weapon. The blade itself was made with special materials that are not necessarily strong enough for heavy combat. The pride of the Pranaja Empu smiths, the steel during forging blessed the property to disperse mana. Since it disperses magical energy, the blade of the knife can't be reinforced with magic. However, the reason why it's named a key is because users can create holes within certain points of a Bounded Field. Since the blade merely disperses mana and not outright destroys it, it creates thinned and weakened areas in a Bound Field that is more susceptible of being bypassed physically without triggering an alarm for the owner.

It can also be used against an enemy using Reinforcement on his body. If the balisong is stabbed onto the target's arm, for example, the magical energy of the reinforcement spell disperses to other parts of his body and his arm is now more weakened thanks to the lower amount of mana for reinforcement. Mao could then exploit this weakness and perhaps send in air bullets to enter his body from the arm, which is no longer as protected as the rest of his body.

There are several custom styles that a Snek agent could choose from. Mao had her balisong created with a kriss-styled blade. She herself chose the handle design and had it made with Damascus steel to make it look more aesthetically pleasing. Needless to say, having these customizations cost her more money.

**S11 'BB' Bulletproof Body Suit**

Standard issue magic armor that Snake Tong provides its members. It is a black suit which was made to be bulletproof (tested with 9mm, 7.62, NATO/.308) and provides magic resistance, dispelling low level spells. It is considered to be one of the iconic uniforms of the Shiai-shi. The suit is made with a composite of multiple magical materials, a major one being Huohuan Bu Silk from a Spider Yaoguai. This makes the Suit durable (enough to withstand modern gunfire and magical projectiles), easily enchantable with magic, and has innate fire resistance. If the Suit was stained, one simply needs to burn the area with the stain and the mess will soon disappear without damaging the cloth.

**"Shroud Ties"**

Shroud Ties are standard issue magic armor and head protection, cleverly disguised as neckties that allow them to blend in with the Bulletproof Snake suit style. By pulling down the tie and channeling mana through them, the ties transform into balaclava masks that provide full coverage of the head and neck. The material is made to be as bulletproof as the suits and also provide the same magical protection. The Shroud Tie can be deactivated by the user removing the mask, and it will turn back into their necktie forms.

Mao's mask is customized to have razor-sharp white cat-like fangs for intimidation.

**Méihuā Darts**

More commonly known as "Plum blossoms" or "Plums", are special darts disguised as badges or buttons that can be worn with Snake Tong Suits. They originally made as decorative buttons in the shape of Plum Blossoms, hence the name. These darts are made of materials enchanted to cut and pierce despite being blunt or smooth-surfaced. The material for these darts are also enchanted with a curse that quickly knocks out even the most steadfast of individuals as long as the darts have pierced flesh. They can be quickly shot by the wearer simply channeling mana through them, but this meant that they fly forward towards one direction. As a result, they serve as surprise weapons for assassinations. Some agents place them on their cuffs disguised as cuff links so they can aim the darts. The darts themselves can pierce clothing, but Reinforced clothes or armor can protect against it.