Aika "Nekomata" Lowoden

### Likes

Cleaning and tidying things up ( it allows her to slip into nothingness easily), She also enjoys her training regimen as well.

## Magic

### Principle

Flow

**Aika Kannazuki Lowoden** (愛華・神無月・ロウデン) is a member of The Snake Tong, trained since childhood to be a martial artist and assassin by the Kannazuki Family. She was directly recruited by Fenghuang after Aika attempted to assassinate the boss of the Shiai-shi and was able to keep up in hand-to-hand combat against her using her **Mushin**, impressed by her skills, Fenghuang offered her a place in her organization or to perish, she chose the former. Her time with the Snakes honed her into an even more deadlier warrior, provided her further insights into the Flow of the Mind, and even love. Don't let her cat-ears, there is a reason why she is deployed with Unit 5's Assault team as the "Entry Killer", first to the mission and first to the kill.

## Background

Aika is from the Kannazuki, an assassin family based in the southern islands of Japan. They are isolated from society, and train one member to be their next head of the family. Aika was designated as such from an early age, and her training began. The training could be compared to sheer torture, designed to push her to her limits. Isolated from society, Akia found no reason to dislike the torture she underwent everyday, in fact she enjoyed it. As a part of the the training, Aika was subjected to many poisons to build up her immunity to such afflictions. After years of training she was sent on her first mission, as a rite of passage. Aika cleared her first blood easily utilizing the skills she’d learned through the years.

As Aika grew, so did her skill, and detachment from others. She was trained in espionage and seduction after completing her first mission. After a certain point she’d be sent out on a test contract to see if she was absorbing the information she’d learned. Some missions she passed with flying colors, and others she struggled. When she successfully completed missions Aika was rewarded, but when she failed she was punished. She finally finished her training she was well into adulthood (age 32). After this she was deemed satisfactory, and was given the rights to operate on her own.

After a couple more years of some mid-tier contracts, Aika pursued an open contract calling for the head of some rich lady. She took the contract believing it to be a normal request. She did her usual thing, but as she tried to gather information on her target, nothing of substance came up. When Aika would try to tail her, the target would disappear suddenly. She couldn’t gain access to her food, nor could she peg an accurate living area. After awhile of trying and failing to pin down the mysterious woman, she finally was able to discern a pattern of sorts. When Aika chose a time to pounce, the element of surprise was completely flipped on her. She attempted to sneak up on her target, but the target seemingly teleported behind her. In that brief moment (due to decades of training) Aika reaches a state of Mushin and was able to react to the attack through instinct. Without any hesitation a small fight broke out between the two. Aika was able to hold her own for a time, but she couldn’t maintain the state of Mushin for long. Having seen the skills of her opponent she deemed them to be above her current skill level dropping all attempts at assassination, and instead attempting to reach the mental state she’d tried so long to reach before.

The fight ended with no injuries on either side. Aika was impressed by the skills her opponent had displayed, and her target seemed to share that sentiment. introducing herself as Fenghuang, the master martial artist gave her praise for her discipline. Aika accepted the praise. Out of respect for that brief fight Feng gave her two choices, become her subordinate, or die. Aware of the difference in skill, Aika choose to join the Snake Tong. Her skill set made her a huge asset for the organization. Through the organization, she met John Lowoden. Originally there were not to many interactions. Both were more reserved and calm, so they often didn’t speak with one another. As the years went by, Aika began to gain a respect for John, that eventually began to develop into romantic feelings. With a little help from the boss she was able to confront John with these feelings. With this, the two were happily married after a couple of years. Throughout the years, Aika served the Tong throughout different roles and currently she is part of its elite airborne assault unit.

## Appearance

When asked about her cat-ears and tail she sometimes wear, which she started mysteriously started having a few years after she got married, she simply says "Because we're memeing". Some wonder if this was because her husband once said he found catgirls cute. The truth will be a mystery known only by the Lowodens.

## Personality

Aika is extremely calm and reserved. She has detached herself from most things in the world due to her dedication to her craft. She is martial artist who has dedicated everything to her craft. She lives a very minimalistic life despite having access to a vast fortune, and connections in high places. Her one true goal is to reach a perfect state of Mushin. To do so, she has detached herself from many comforts, spending most of her days meditating training and performing minimal tasks. Despite her desire to reach such a state, Aika carries a pride for her family’s training, and techniques. Due to this, she tends to have a negative opinion for those who take the easy route, and use modern weaponry.

Aika sees no reason to hide her opinion of others. She can be rather blunt while interacting with others. No matter their status and/or power she can be counted on to tell you exactly what she thinks of you. It often comes off as rude, and disrespectful to people who aren’t used to that type of person. She enjoys utilizing her skills, and improving them when she can. Aika has an appreciation for her own view of hard work, and has immense respect for those who display such feats.

## Relationships

**Fenghuang**

The one target she couldn’t kill. Aika has an immense respect for the boss of the Shiai-shi. Enough to take up a long term contract with her, and what she had to teach. Though the contract on Fenghuang’s head Aika says she’ll take it back up when she’s good and ready. (one of the few jokes she’s ever told.) Aika heavily admire the amount of lethality Feng holds, which was a new feeling for her experience.

**John Lowoden**

Aika’s husband. A relationship that started from nothing, then grew to mutual respect, and then finally blossomed into love. John is one of the few people she has forged a connection with. They spend a good chunk of time together, despite both of them not being the talkative type. Aika can be seen with a genuine smile one her face when in John's presence.

## Abilities

### **Martial Arts**

Aika is a practitioner of her families assassination martial arts. It takes elements from judo, kempo, and muay thai. The aim of the martial arts is to be lethal in every way turning the whole body into a weapon. The family is very secretive about the style, so only one in every generation is taught. In addition, Aika was taught **Mushin (無心)**, or the flowing of the mind. It is a difficult mental state to reach, and Aika has spent a the majority of her life attempting to do so. She is able to reach this state of nothingness for moments at a time (1 minutes maximum) leaving her actions up to pure instinct, rather than complex thought out moves. While in this state her mind processes information at a high speed, with no intention, planning or direction making her movement truly intuitional. After joining up with the Snake Tong, her skills in pressure point based martial arts increased under the tutelage of Fenghuang. The boss' specialization in the Concept of "Flow" has made Aika extremely interested in studying under Fenghuang, and is one of the top-performing agents that were directly trained by Fenghuang.

**Magic**

Aika is not very proficient in magic due to being a martial arts specialist. She does know how to craft her family’s signature poison used in assassinations though, which should be mentioned here. The only magic she shows a high proficiency in is reinforcement, and due to her mental training she’s got a high amount of mental resistance as well.

**Combat**

Aika typically replies on her hand to hand prowess to kill her targets. She uses her magical energy to add that extra lethality to her strikes. Aika carries vials of her family’s signature poisons. The poisons have different effects depending on what she wants to accomplish. The first type of poison is extremely lethal, the second is meant to paralyze the target, the third is meant to induce hallucinations, the final is a powerful aphrodisiac. The poisons can be dispersed in both a liquid and gas form. Due to her upbringing she has gained an immunity to most conventional poisons. Her skill in combat is high enough to last against Fenghuang in a one on one match. Aika however, admits that in an actual battle to the death she wouldn’t be able to last long enough into the fight to deal a finishing blow. She prefers to fight hand to hand, but is proficient in most conventional weaponry, however she does look down on guns, and explosives thinking that they are inferior and unnecessarily flashy. Aika prefers to end confrontations in action.

**Medical Knowledge**

Aika knows the human body very intimately. She has had the knowledge of many ailments and conditions as a part of her training. She is skilled enough to be considered a certifiable medic. She knows CPR, can treat burn, blisters, fractures, sprains, frostbite, poisoning etc.

**Multilingual Skills**

Aika can fluently speak; English, Spanish, Japanese, French, Mandarin, and has a proficiency in Filipino.

**Espionage**

Due to her training, Aika is proficient in espionage. Due to her vast amount of skills in more menial tasks, she is often able to get into organizations, typically as a maid, chef, janitorial position. She is able to project a vulnerable and defenseless persona to throw people off. Aika is also very good at hiding her killer intent assisting in her infiltrations.

### Equipment

**Snake Key**

A standard issue Balisong knife made to disperse magic without alerting the source, allowing agents to create holes in magical defenses undetected, hence the title of a key. It is not suited for intense battle and Aika mostly uses it for utility and weakening the magical defenses of an enemy via Reinforcement or Alteration.

**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.

Aika's mask features a feline design inspired by Japanese Noh theatre, a mischievous motif masking the danger underneath.

**Zǐ Shuǐjīng Zhū (Amethyst Beads)**

A gift from Fenghuang after years of service and training under her. The Beads are a Foci for the Flow Manipulation techniques Fenghuang is capable of and a part of Aika's training. The Amethyst beads act like an equivalent of a magic scepter, except it is a tool for the metaphysical concept of Flow instead of raw mana. As a test, Aika was given the beads and told by Fenghuang to trap a fire spirit ripped from the Mythic Realm of Elemental Fire into the beads to demonstrate how "flow" can be made to constantly loop around, trapped in an eternal state. After an intense battle, she trapped the fire spirit by manipulating the flow of its fiery body into the beads. As a result, she has control over the spirit as long as the seal in the beads remain unbroken, the seal being the brooch she places on her chest as a symbol and a boast. "You can only break the seal if you can hit my heart in a fight". The fire spirit lets her project an intense burst of flames and also a very luminous light from the flames itself if concentrated into a compact state, allowing Aika to use it as a flashbang of sorts upon entry into a fight.

**पहाडको औंला - Pahāḍakō Aunlā (Finger of the Mountain)**

A single silver ornament placed on one's finger, and an old focus for Flow manipulation. Another gift from Fenghuang, however it was given to her during the start of her training in pressure-point assassination, and eventually transistioned into teaching her how to control the flow of her own Mana. The Finger aids her in project an extremely precise burst of her own mana during combat, allowing for non-lethal and lethal takedowns when the situation demands it.