P E R S O N A L ◄
✦ N A M E✦ T I T L E Sof the Iron Palm Sect | (Little) Wildcat | The Sixth
Biology | Hiking and climbing | Drawing | Travelling and exploration | Herbalism | Medicine | Self-improvement
Competitive. Ankaa enjoys testing herself and believes direct competition is the best way to do so. She is also used to sparring as a daily activity.
Energetic. Liu is active and lively, full of energy, sometimes to the point of restlessness. This is what gets her into the occasional mischief or misadventure. She may even skip a boring lecture here and there, or allow herself to be baited into a fight.
Curious. She delights in anything or anyone new and unknown, though that interest is often short-lived. This trait is not readily apparent, as she is not an openly excitable person.
Down-to-earth. Ankaa is not one given to flights of fancy. She is interested in what she can use or obtain, and not in what she perceives as the unachievable. That is not to say she is not ambitious; she does strive to be better, always, but she is deeply aware of her limits. She certainly wants to rise and reach up, but knows there will be always people above her regardless of how far she comes. The only people she wouldn’t want to disappoint are her adoptive parents and herself, so attempts to motivate her through guilt-tripping usually fail.
Stubborn. Though she has made her peace with never becoming the best of the best, she is not the type to give up easily, especially not if it comes down to a matter of principle. Liu has a rigid set of standards and beliefs, and is resistant to outside attempts to change them. However, she also tries not to enforce her conviction on others. She is not exactly understanding of differences, though she’s working on it.
Wary. Ankaa has learned that not all people have good intentions, and so it will take a while for her to warm up to someone. She’s also watchful of her surroundings, and tends to dislike large and rowdy crowds, especially when people are forced to be packed in limited spaces.
Unforgiving. Ankaa doesn’t forget those who have wronged her, nor does she forgive them. She can hold a grudge for years.
The first five years of her life, Ankaa spent with her parents, two travelling merchants. At that point, they felt comfortable going on longer journeys. It was on one of such trading excursions that they ran into trouble. One of mercenaries hired to guard them sold them out to a bandit group, in exchange for a cut of the profit they’d make off the stolen wares. The merchants were ambushed on a desolate road, and with inside help, the rest of the mercenaries supposed to protect them were felled easily. In a bid to protect her, Ankaa’s mother took her child, and ran with her to the nearby forest, located at the bottom of a mountain.
They were under the illusion of safety for perhaps an hour, but then a few of the more determined criminals showed up on their trail. They were promised some human ‘wares’ after all, and they did not want to let such easy prey go. Desperate, her mother hid her in the hollow of a tree, telling her to stay put and quiet. Then, the older woman left, approaching the bandits willingly, and gave herself up without a struggle, pleading with them to let her daughter be. Not entirely satisfied, the group of outlaws nonetheless departed.
Ankaa was alone, terrified out of her mind, paralyzed with horror and disbelief. However, she was forced to move hours later, due to her thirst and hunger. She wandered the forest, traversing and ascending the terrain. She was in a daze for the next few days, but quickly learned to be quiet and careful. The child survived off of grass, berries, and small ponds of water. As she was bound to with her lack of knowledge, she ate something she shouldn’t have. It was only luck that she was found soon enough by a local, then taken to the temple-cum-village up the mountain, where she was tended to.
She was slow to trust these strangers, though that they offered food, water, warmth, and a roof over her head went a long way. Two temple’s residents chose to adopt her, and became her guardians and foster parents. They were the first people Ankaa revealed her (first) name to, and the ones she chose to tell what had happened to her. A team of adults was arranged and sent to investigate, and though they discovered the victim’s corpses (including her father’s), neither the criminals nor her mother were anywhere to be found. So, Ankaa was taken in by the temple’s denizens.
She was taught by her guardians and the other adults, all of them monks and martial artists. They lived a simple, disciplined life, though the few children there were a bit freer than the adults. Ankaa learned the ways of the community, though it took years for her to lose that feeling of being an outsider. She treasured those who accepted her, and remained distant from those who did not. She took her guardians’ last name as hers, since she did not remember her former one. Ankaa practiced, grew, and matured. Her hatred at her past assailants mellowed, and she instead directed her energies and newly calm heart to bettering herself and the world.
She fancied that she might become a teacher, or a practitioner of medicine, as both healing and combat were precious interests of hers. Though her innate amount and skill for mana was very low, she was talented at channeling what little she had, and used it to supplement her martial arts, as she was taught to do. At one point in her adolescence, Ankaa expressed to her adoptive parents the desire to travel, to see the world, and obtain the wisdom of experience. Agreeing that putting the tenet of open-mindedness to the test was a good idea, they arranged for her to attend Avalice.
It has been a year since she has entered Genelogia – this city so strange to her, though it was (unknown to her) fairly close to her actual birthplace. Ankaa has had just enough time to get habituated to her new life and the academy. It has been much more colorful than she had expected, overwhelming at times. Admittedly, she was disappointed when she learned the Class C she was placed in was considered cursed. Nonetheless, she is as determined to make the best of her situation as she has always been.
C O M B A T ◄
✦ C L A S S I F I C A T I O N✦ M A N A C O L O RSky-blue, shrouded by a swirling veil of violet.
Misty, soft, and subtle at a first glance, but surprisingly sharp and clear underneath the haze.
- A sabre. Though she’s primarily a hand-to-hand combatant, a weapon is useful for countering armed opponents.
- A leather-bound journal, which details the theory of self-enhancement and includes notes on how to manifest her magic externally.
Vitality magic: Manipulation
Gale palm. Projecting her mana outwards, she drives a condensed ball of air from the palm of her hand, which has enough force to knock over, trip, or push back a person.
Rend the skies. Wrapping her mana around the blade of her weapon, she can use her sword to attack from a distance by creating cutting expulsions of wind.
Body reinforcement: Ankaa circulates the mana within her body, increasing her physical characteristics. At a nearly passive level, the boost is minor but easy to maintain. Temporary explosive increases in power and speed are also possible, but drain her reserves quickly.
Energizing breath. As long as she keeps up balanced, deep, and controlled breathing, each inhale draws environmental mana into her, and each exhale expels minimal amounts of energy in turn. The result is a rather efficient energy upkeep, increased endurance, and a feeling of refreshed vigor.
Numbing strike. Ankaa coalesces and amplifies the energy within her hands and fingers. Upon contact* with a target, this energy disrupts their life force. The main effect is a short-termed paralysis of the targeted area, hence the technique’s name. Good for disarming, disabling, incapacitating, or (in the most severe cases) even killing an enemy. *Note: The contact doesn't have to be skin-to-skin, so armour generally doesn't mitigate the effects, though that doesn't mean this technique can't be defended against.
Unveiling sight. Enhances her vision, and becomes capable of seeing the flow of mana in an area or within a particular person. Mainly used to search out potential hidden enemies in an environment or to try and predict a particular person’s movements. The latter application is far from reliable, however.
The unmovable mountain. Ankaa toughens her body and closes herself off to outside influence, both physical and magical, vastly increasing her resistance to damage. The drawback is that she must remain nearly still for the duration, reducing evasiveness and maneuverability. Also, she has difficulties switching to the correct stance and mind-set to use this technique mid-offense.
Meditative regeneration. An out-of-combat healing technique in which Ankaa enters a deep trance, directing her mana to heal any and all injuries, starting from the most severe ones.
► P A R A M E T E R S ◄
✦ M A N A | 1 / 5
✦ C H A N N E L I N G | 4 / 5
✦ M A G I C | 1 / 5
✦ T E C H N I Q U E | 5 / 5
✦ S T R E N G T H | 4 / 5
✦ S P E E D | 3 / 5
✦ B O D Y | 3 / 5
✦ I N T E L L E C T | 3 / 5
