Vengeance, and comfort

Fire. So much, fire. And she could smell beyond the fire, to the death inside. Fine, Echidna Project was strong enough, and she knew Earth-Grasping Step well enough to not die in there, so her toes curled and she entered, with a flash. While placed against many others, she was pretty slow, but against a normal person, she was a swift-footed girl. It let her get through the house, and recover Gordo's body, bringing it out of the house. She didn't find the daughter, and didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Gordo, despite having burned skin and covered in ash, had a wound in his chest, through his heart. Whoever killed him was clearly after something. This was no accident, he was murdered.

She spent the next few hours digging a grave, and burying Gordo, while waiting for the forge he had died in to burn out. Their weaponry was of sufficent make to survive a house fire like that without even a scuff. The blade she had gotten, Gram the Dragnoslayer, was sturdy as hell. She had tested it with her limited skill in blades. Eventually the fire was nothing more than slightly hot ash, which Ulv blew away with a request to The Wind. Revealing, a shattered trapdoor in the ground, and when she went down, an empty cellar. Robed, it seemed. For their weapons.

Looking around, there was a lot of blood, and even a few teeth about. Gordo had one wound and no missing teeth, which meant that he had fought back and caused some serious pain before getting killed. The target, the person who had done this, was strong. She doubted Gordo had no idea what he was doing on the fighting front, gathering and protecting these weapons. And she also needed to find Gordo's daughter, the one who had a penchant for getting caught up in what she was doing and getting kidnapped or turned into a toy for whoever owned her. Letting out a sigh, she stared at Gordo's grave for a small while before leaving. She had not known him long, but he was a nice guy, he didn't deserve to die like this.

This death depressed her drive, and so she found a mountain and sat on the top of it. In the sky, touched by The Wind as she could not be on the ground, she was soothed. The wind wiped away her tears, it seemed, and here she meditated. Cultivation, it was called, she knew what it was, how to do it, and why she needed to do it. The only issue was that it was slow. She had done well in her past life, and whatever this Dantian was connected to, it wasn't damaged by her soul breaking. She had heard about Cultivation Techniques as well, reading her book, and looking around, talking to people in Wulin. Maybe she should make one. Call it, Fool On A Mountaintop. That was how she felt right now, like she was a fool for leaving her friends to just die. Slowly, in the cultivation, she slipped into her Inner World

"And when did you get precognition?" Hvit asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Ohh, you know what I mean, Hvit. I knew it was important, I should have stayed there to make sure that nobody untowards came for it" Ulv shook her head, and looked about the world. Why, was it broken. Why did it have to be broken? She was fixing it but that was too slow. She was weak, and needed to be less weak. This was just the despair from losing a friend talking, and Ulv knew that, so she kicked up her Tulpa and burned it away. It made her feel better, and less inclined to be Stoic. "Why is this place, so cracked and broken, the best place for me to be?" Ulv asked rhetorically. She grinned at Hvit, and then retreated back into her body. Once there, she rose, and began to strike out. Kick, punch, elbow and twisting heel blow. She pushed on into the night, and then the morning, pushing Echidna Project to it's limits. Her heart thumping like the fastest of drummers, and she was sweating.

"Move to the Great Cairn, and speak with the Demon there" whispered The Wind. T'was more than she had got from it, which meant they were really attuned to her emotional state right now. Knew how important this was to her. She smiled and stood about for a few more minutes, singing to it in thanks, before moving off. A profound mindset like hers, born from many hours of reading her interesting history book, and from her past life as well, let her made these several days of trekking into a moderate form of Martial Meditation. Which, when added to the rest of the stuff she had done from before, was enough to push her above. Beyond, and into the second step of this shining golden realm.

Eventually, she arrived in her most comforted place on Earth. She didn't know why this cold, snow-covered country was so good for her, but Norway was a place she could never get out of her thoughts. The Great Cairn was probably one of these. A massive Cairn denoting the graves of hundred of the greatest Norse warriors ever known. People had tried pluming the depths, but stories of Draugr from those who returned had made explorers rare. Even Gold Rank Cultivators like Ulv were not guaranteed to survive. So instead, the Wandering Bazzar just set up shop there because it was an iconic landmark. And it was here, as ever, that a beautiful Chinese woman walked about, keeping the peace and overseeing large deals. Ulv avoided most trouble from being a strong Gold Rank Cultivator, so managed to reach Ci Lan Tsu with little issues.

"Hey Ci" Ulv exclaimed, not as cheery as usual, but still happy enough to make her smile.
"Hello little Wolf, how can I help you?" Ci asked. Insisting on calling her little Wolf, and ok yea Ulv did mean Wolf, but still, it was said like it meant something else.
"Heard anything about a guy being an asshole recently? Probably related to, Arms of the Dragon?" Ulv asked. She was going straight to the point right now, and not bothering with her usual chitchat. Vengeance was in her mind, and blood would soon be in the air.
"Well, I have, yes. Guy has been bragging he's got a great relic to sell off. A mighty thing from the great Siegfried. Which means, Gram, or Arms of the Dragon. And, you have Gram, so I am sure that is who you look for. Hold up in the old, broken town of Lærdalsøyri, not far from here". Ulv would generally stick about and be friendly, but she felt herself needing to do this, so just nodded and kicked off. The town she was going to, felt familiar. She felt like she knew it. Why, was the question however.

She arrived in the town, and it really was ruined. Buildings crumbled almost to nothing, snowdrift moving in to reclaim it, and it made a great place for a clandestine deal. In the town center, there were a group of a dozen people. Mostly mooks, Bronze and Silver. But one Gold 5 guy in front of her, clearly the leader. A shield with a truly ghastly face on it, but other than that, nothing visible.
"You have the Arms of the Dragon?"
"Got an Arm, yes. The other one is, to be found. Not on me,
obviously. You give us the mone-" He was cut off as Ulv threw herself across the gap between them, arms burning with amber light as she moved into the stance of Female Dragon Fist, and threw it at him without pause. He was fast, however, as a Cultivator of his standing should be, and managed to get the shield between her and him in time to catch her fist. The explosive ring as her knuckles hit the shield send the lesser cultivators scurrying for cover. But whatever the shield was, it held without complaint, allowing the man to swing it wide, and open Ulv up, delivering Three Thunder Fists to her chest.

Taken off her feet, she let out a painful cough, and then landed hard, barely keeping her footing.
"I'm invincible with this shield, girl, you are outmatched. Now, you gonna sit down and talk deals?"
"Outmatched? Please, I live for this shit!" Ulv cracked her neck then did something probably stupid. Great Ocean Beast through it was, there was no way she could sustain Wulin Splitting Legs for more than a handful of seconds. But the sheer, unbridled power that she would get in those seconds, not to mention the boost in speed from having that kind of might in her legs, might just be worth it. Feeling her hit such a powerful technique, the man put the shield between him and waited.

Pushing off with an explosive crack, Ulv span, tensed her muscles, and smashed her foot into the front of the shield. Like the roar of some primordial beast, the foot clashed. And, like the shriek of the same beast, the shield buckled. But when she burned out, and the power was over, that was all it was, a dent. Not broken, and not enough to throw the man off. In response, came Soul-Crushing Strike, shattering her shin. Using her other, none devastated leg, Ulv got some distance from him, who looked at the dented shield and then back to Ulv, with a surprised and somewhat fearful look. Apparently he didn't think even Wulin Splitting Legs could deal with that shield. And then, just as the two were staring each other down, making and remaking battle plans in the wake of seeing what they just had, a cry of intense anger, and pain ripped through the air, followed by an explosion of Shen.
"SCREAM!" it cut through the air, just as a woman dropped form one of the still sort of intact buildings with a shining longsword, billowing with power.

Shifting, the man brought his shield to protect him from the new threat. Weither the kick had damaged it enough, or the blade was just that strong, the shield was bisected, and his arm along with it. With tears streaming down her face, and a savage roar of despair, the woman - Gordo's daughter, she could now see - drove her sword forward, cleaving through the man's hand, and his attempt at the Blade-Deflecting Body - and interesting thing, to see that he knew Tai Chi and Blood Fists, but they were in Europe - and punching through his skull. Dead in an instant.

Banding her leg with drive and determination, Ulv stood up and walked over to the girl, hugging her with her Tulpa Hug. It merely made her sob deeper, but that was good.
"Nice sword" She said, changing the subject. It took a while to get a response, but eventually one was given.
"Excalibur. The sword of Arthur Eld, also known as Arthur Pendragon in later legends. Gordo had a theory on where it was, it paid off but at the same time, I wasn't there to help him" she dragged the blade out of the man's head, and picked up the two pieces of the shield. the Aegis. One of the few rare shields made for Wulin, along with Rho Aias, and Dubán. Didn't expect Excalibur to be that strong...they are gonna be pissed" the woman had dropped into business mode, to avoid thinking about the pain in her heart. "Come on. You can help me explain"