Wynn continued on her journey from the central city of Raimei to the northern frontier city of Icebreak. A place she would soon call home for the next four years. She was stopped just as she was about to enter the city with Galewind securely strapped to her back. Soldiers quickly escorted her to her new quarters as she began to unwind from the long journey. The aspiring knights were all living in the same dormitory to help foster comradery among the new generation. She quickly settled into a mundane routine of theory classes mixed with physical training as well as magic tactics to bring out the full potential of her potent wind magic.
At the end of the 4 years, she was granted the title of sergeant as she graduated firmly at the top as a full-fledged mystic knight by the age of 20. She had remained in touch with Ignis who seemed to have hit a bottleneck trying to advance into the soulsmith ranks, by his own admission he lacked experience with Soulram and until he mastered its use, he would not attain the legendary rank.
She wrote to him every day and he responded in kind. Their love had blossomed unfettered by the distance that separated them. As Wynn was about to return to Raimei, she received an emergency summons to the northern wall, a section of the wall was destroyed and nearby villages were being evacuated. She was tasked with leading an advanced party of scouts to ascertain the number of monsters that had broken through. The patriarch of the Iceshroud family was on his way and would arrive within the next few hours. As luck would have it, the crown prince and his loyal knights were also present and soon dispatched as well.
She quickly activated
She hastily cast a defensive spell as hellfire rained down on them. The rest of her squad as responded with a volley of ice and earth however they were severely outmatched. A whole pack of Infernal Hyenas had descended upon them. If they reached the city many lives would be lost even before Silas Iceshroud was in the vicinity. She knew she had to buy time for him to get here. Desperate, she unfurled her spear and let her mana run wild. Galewind was being pushed beyond its limits as she poured every ounce of her mana into it. Her squad comprised of a light mage and an earthen tanker tried to hold out while she charged her spear.
The Hyenas had continued their barrage of searing fire. Her hands burned as the spear grew hotter but she didn't let up as she charged headfirst into the hyenas hoping to create a diversion so that the rest of her squad could escape and call for backup. She fought valiantly unfurling < Gale Pierce > her trump card as she skewered the two hyenas closest to her. At this point the fight had lasted barely ten minutes but she was already nearing her limit. Her squad had abandoned her, left on her own she was battered and burnt all over. She refused to drop her spear, there was no escape left and she would be damned if she went down without a fight. As another hyena fell to her spear, she could barely muster the strength to stand. She had managed to kill four of them but their number was still eight strong. Exhausted she yelped in pain as one of the hyenas managed to get close enough to rip her leg off. Adrenaline coursing through her veins she managed to stab it in the brain but with no mobility left soon her grip faded. As her spear fell another hyena lunged at her hand and swallowed it whole. Regrets took a hold of her she closed her eyes, if only she could have seen Ignis one last time. It seemed like an eternity had passed before she opened her eyes again. Wynn was 'saved' by the prince's men but to the rest of the world she had already been announced dead in combat. As she searched for her words, she could not move an inch. She was tightly bound to a weird contraption and she couldn't even command her mana. Her eyes scanned the room only to find that she was missing her hand and leg. Tears started welling up in her eyes as it dawned on her that she was in the mercy of her captors. As her senses returned to her, she realised that she was in a room surrounded by glass windows as researchers were all around her. For a fleeting moment she glimpsed that even the prince, Mirai, himself was present in the chamber. Not understanding the circumstances of her survival, she judged that surely, she was here to receive treatment for her various wounds as she had laid her life on the line for the safety of others. Alas, fate is but a cruel mistress. A Large block of wolfram was wheeled into the room. Unable to speak Wynn could only feel the whir of the contraption around her as a voice cried out.
"EXTRACTION COMMENCING IN 3...2...1..."
Soon she felt a pull, as if her mana was flowing out of her. Gradually this force only seemed to increase as she felt she had no mana left. Suddenly her body lurched as she felt immense pain. Her screams rang out indiscriminately as she begged for mercy. Tears were flowing as her brain failed to process the agony of her soul being ripped from her body. Every fibre of her being tried to resist in vain as her very sense of being was ripped from her body. One minute she was screaming and the next her body went limp. Her crystal green eyes one once full of colour were now mere shadows.
"SOUL HARVEST COMPLETE. INITIALIZING SOULRAM PRODUCTION PROTOCOL."
Mirai watched as her soul was ripped from her body and fused with the cold hard metal in the room. This was the sin of the Thunder clan. Every piece of Soulram had been produced with the sacrifice of a live subject. Her lifeless corpse was wheeled away and placed in an ornate coffin to be sent back to her family along with her spear. He had cruelly ended her life but he would not deny her family the closure or at least what was left of her. He could have healed her but he knew that she could not fight again and that was something he could not afford, not with the calamity brewing. To him the end justified the means.