<p><em>Translator: XephiZ</em></p><p><em>Editor: Aelryinth</em></p><p>Leng Qing slowly walked into an empty room among the soldier bunkers. Most of the Battlemages had joined the war, thus there were not many people left in the camp.</p><p>Leng Qing headed to Wang Xiaojun's room. It was a little storage room, but it was very tidy. The only mess was some gray feathers lying around the place.</p><p>"Captain, Wang Xiaojun did not have a military rank, thus we couldn't arrange a proper bunker for him. His brother was a Heavenly Eagle Battlemage. After he went missing, I arranged for him to stay here to look after him. I appointed him as an apprentice of the Beastmasters… did the kid cause any trouble?" Xu Li, whose face was filled with freckles, asked cautiously.</p><p>Leng Qing walked into the room on her heels, and picked up a picture frame on the table.</p><p>On the picture, a young Battlemage was pressing his hand down a Wang Xiaojun's head, who seemed to be at the age of twelve or thirteen. The young man had a charming smile, while Wang Xiaojun seemed quite reluctant. It was most likely that he believed the curse of being unable to grow taller if his head were pressed down too much.</p><p>Behind them stood a snowy white Heavenly Eagle. It was huge, magnificent, with a proud bearing.</p><p>Meanwhile, Wang Xiaojun was holding a gray egg in his hands in a very careful manner. It was obvious that he was extremely fond of it, the way he was handling it carefully.</p><p>"The kid treated the crossbreed Heavenly Eagle preciously, and looked after it until this very day. After all, it was something that his brother had gifted him before he went missing... Normally, we wouldn't allow a gray Heavenly Eagle here, but since he had lost his only family member, we just let it be. He's still young, after all. He always said how he would become the strongest Heavenly Eagle Battlemage one day. I knew he had disobeyed a military order, but it wasn't serious enough to bring you, a Vice Elder of the Magic Court here. If you were thinking of punishing him, please go easy on him, considering he's still young..." Beastmaster Xu Li had no clue what had happened. He pleaded sincerely.</p><p>As a matter of fact, Xu Li and Wang Xiaojun's brother were not close. Although he was extremely strict and impatient with Wang Xiaojun all the time, he actually felt sorry for the kid. He did not want the kid to be expelled, since he would soon become an official Battlemage when he reached eighteen.</p><p>"Pack his stuff up and hand them to me. On top of that, ask your Commander Ming Kuo to commemorate him as a Battlemage. He would understand," Leng Qing said to the Beastmaster with freckles as he placed the picture frame back onto the desk.</p><p>"Heavenly Eagle Battlemage, did you say you're giving him a military rank?" Xu Li stared at Leng Qing in bewilderment.</p><p>However, Xu Li soon realized something. His face turned pale as his voice stiffened with disbelief, "What did you say, com...commemorate?"</p><p>Granting a title and commemorating were two different things!</p><p>Granting was when the person was given the title, while commemorating was when the person could no longer accept the title in person… because he was dead!</p><p>Xu Li was not highly ranked in the army. He had no clue what had happened in the meeting room. When someone like Leng Qing appeared, he thought the kid had caused great trouble instead.</p><p>"I'm sorry, we didn't manage to protect him," said Leng Qing to Xu Li remorsefully.</p><p>Xu Li stood there with a blank face.</p><p>He could not accept the truth… just a year more, and he would have become an official Battlemage.</p><p>No one would know better how much the kid wanted to become an official soldier than him. Xu Li clearly knew that he wanted to become a Heavenly Eagle Battlemage, following in his brother's footsteps. Even when the Heavenly Eagle he raised had gray feathers, his determination had never swayed.</p><p>Xu Li felt like suffocating. He wanted to know what exactly happened.</p><p>"Xu Li, Beastmaster Xu Li, Beastmaster Xu Li..." A yell suddenly came from outside of the bunker. The voice repeated for quite some time until Xu Li collected his thoughts.</p><p>"I'm...I'm here," responded Xu Li softly.</p><p>"There's a red Heavenly Eagle flying toward your guard post. Someone recognized it as the one that you were looking after. We're not sure if we should kill it on the spot. Come and take a look quick!" yelled the man.</p><p>Xu Li was confused. He never recalled raising a red Heavenly Eagle...</p><p>"Let's check it out," said Leng Qing.</p><p>The two quickly left Wang Xiaojun's room and went straight to the guard post.</p><p>The place was crowded with workers and a few soldiers. They were hesitating if they should consider the beast as hostile.</p><p>As soon as Leng Qing and Xu Li reached the place, they saw a red Heavenly Eagle flying toward them awkwardly</p><p>The beast seemed to be suffering. It felt like it would slam into the ground at times, but it managed to flap its wings and recollect itself.</p><p>Finally, the eagle was less than fifty meters away from the guard post.</p><p>Xu Li's eyes widened. They were full of astonishment.</p><p>It was true that he could not recall raising any red Heavenly Eagle, as the red covering the beast was actually blood!</p><p>It was not a red Heavenly Eagle, but a gray one. Its body was soaked in blood, including its head, its wings, its body, its claws... Not a single body part was free from deep wounds and bruises, not a spot was clear of blood.</p><p>The blood was still dripping. It covered its gray feathers, and dyed them thoroughly red!</p><p>Xu Li had been in the army for more than ten years. He had seen too many deaths, thus his tears were long dry...</p><p>However, when he saw the gray eagle stumbling to land on the platform, when he saw a lifeless young man lying on its back, tears began to burst out from his eyes!</p><p>---</p><p>Leng Qing was stunned, too.</p><p>The gray eagle… It had managed to carry Wang Xiaojun back!</p><p>Despite the distance, it had managed to weave through the bloodbath of the battlefield and brought its young master back 'unharmed'.</p><p>Its fresh blood had already dried up!</p><p>The gray feathers were dyed completely red!</p><p>The crossbreed Heavenly Eagle did not rise again after it landed. It fell to the ground before the crowd. Its half-broken neck turned toward Wang Xiaojun's body. Its eyes had a blank expression...</p><p>It was dead.</p><p>Leng Qing had seen many Heavenly Eagles with noble lineage. They had incredible strength and pure white feathers. However, she would only remember the crossbreed, gray-feathered Heavenly Eagle from now on.</p><p>Like master, like beast. She could only pay her utter respect with silent tears!</p>