Childhood Sweethearts and Wine-Boiling Part Thirteen

He was determined to start training hard and defeat Left Shore as soon as possible!

Beanie swore an oath—not only would he be stronger than Left Shore, he’d be much stronger. Next time, no matter what schemes or traps Left Shore tried, Beanie would beat him so badly he’d be picking his teeth up off the ground…

“Master, starting tomorrow I want to train with Left Shore. Whatever Left Shore learns and however long he practices, I’ll do exactly the same.” Beanie made this promise to his master on his first day of recovery.

Beanie’s master was already used to his three-minute enthusiasm. Every time Beanie lost a fight, he’d shout about training, then practice for two days before complaining he was tired, start slacking off, and after a while go pick a fight with someone else…

If losing fights actually motivated Beanie, the Seven Old Monsters wouldn’t have to step in and interfere with normal duels just to keep him safe…

This time, even though Beanie sounded so serious, not a single one of the Seven Old Monsters believed him. Everyone just let him do as he pleased—after all, the whole Assassin Alliance belonged to Beanie, and whatever he wanted to do was fine.

In the entire Assassin Alliance, no one believed Beanie could stick with it—proof of just how badly he’d failed at life. But…

Beanie didn’t care at all—or maybe he’d never even realized the Seven Old Monsters had so little faith in him. He always thought he was great. Really great…

Beanie always knew he was smart. He didn’t need anyone to teach him what to do—he could figure out anything on his own. So he didn’t need anyone to arrange things for him; he could handle it himself.

As an assassin, he was sure he’d become the best—no exceptions.

Beanie’s current goal was simple: defeat Left Shore. To reach that goal, Beanie could work really, really hard…

But how hard, exactly?

Beanie, who never woke up early and never joined training, managed to follow Left Shore’s routine for ten straight days—getting up before dawn, strapping ten-jin iron balls to his legs, and running a full lap around the Assassin Alliance compound…

The Assassin Alliance was huge—one lap took so long that breakfast time was already over!

On the first day, Beanie collapsed halfway through and couldn’t move until Left Shore helped him take off the iron balls from his legs. Only then did he have the strength to keep going…

Even so, Beanie still fell far behind Left Shore. By the time Beanie made it back, Left Shore had already showered and finished breakfast.

“Left Shore, you’re not even human.” Beanie, exhausted and dog-tired, crawled into the cafeteria, stuffed two buns in his mouth, gulped down a cup of water, and—without time for a shower—followed Left Shore straight to the practice ground…

On the practice ground, Left Shore’s master was instructing him in swordsmanship!

Assassins didn’t need fancy moves, but every strike had to be fast, ruthless, and precise. To reach that level, Left Shore would train a single move for an entire year—practicing that one move thousands of times every day.

Year after year, day after day, always the same motion. It was mind-numbingly dull and tested anyone’s patience; almost no one in the Assassin Alliance could stick with it. Left Shore was one of the few who could. Beanie, on the other hand, couldn’t even last a single day…

Beanie was smart—he had real intuition!

And just to be clear, that’s not an insult—it’s a compliment.

Beanie might be clueless about a lot of things, but when it came to martial arts, his intuition was unmatched. Left Shore couldn’t compare. For the same move, Left Shore had to practice a hundred times before he could hit the mark, keeping his strength and aim consistent. But…

Beanie only needed a little over ten tries to achieve what Left Shore did in a hundred.

Left Shore had never seen Beanie show up at the practice ground before—this was a first. And he really was surprised by Beanie’s talent. But after the shock wore off, Left Shore didn’t care. Envy, jealousy, resentment… he felt none of it.

Just like Master said, there were plenty of talented people in the world. Even in the Assassin Alliance, every disciple chosen by the Seven Old Monsters had talent far beyond the average. But so what?

They might not be as lazy as Beanie, but none were as hardworking or tough as Left Shore. No matter how talented they were, at first they’d be ahead of Left Shore, but in the end…

Even the best talent turns mediocre without effort.

Take Beanie, for example—he had the best aptitude of anyone, grew up in the Assassin Alliance, and got careful guidance from all the Seven Old Monsters. But he still couldn’t beat Left Shore, who’d only been learning for two years.

Talent matters, but hard work matters too. Besides, Left Shore wasn’t lacking in talent either—if he didn’t have it, the Seven Old Monsters wouldn’t have given him a second glance.

Left Shore was the most talented person in the Assassin Alliance—besides Beanie.

Like I said before, Beanie wasn’t patient at all. Running with iron balls strapped to his legs was one thing, but having to practice the same sword move every day? Beanie would go crazy.

He just couldn’t take it. After three days, he threw down his sword: “I’m done!”

He plopped down on the ground and just watched Left Shore train…

When the Seven Old Monsters heard about it, they weren’t disappointed at all—they just gave a ‘figures’ look.

They’d known it would end up this way from the start!

Whether Beanie trained or not didn’t matter to Left Shore. He kept up his dull, heavy regimen every single day…

Sword drills in the morning, stealth practice in the afternoon—never slacking, no matter the weather!

“Left Shore, what’s the point of running every day?” Beanie could now handle ten-jin iron balls with ease, but…

Now Left Shore had a ten-jin iron ball strapped to each foot.

Left Shore ignored Beanie and kept running at a steady pace…

“Left Shore, don’t you get bored chopping every day?” Beanie swung his sword and knocked down a fly.

He was pretty smooth with the sword now—if he aimed for the heart, he’d never miss left. But…

Left Shore was now wielding a heavy sword. Fifty jin, and he swung it with ease—every strike hit dead center.

“Left Shore, don’t you feel gross rolling in mud and grass every day?” Beanie crawled up from the ground, filthy all over. If he lay still, you’d think he was part of the earth. But Left Shore…

Where was Left Shore?

Left Shore was long gone—and Beanie hadn’t noticed at all!

Beanie didn’t train every day, but he did ‘play’ alongside Left Shore for a year. After a year of ‘hard training,’ Beanie felt way stronger, so he challenged Left Shore again: “Left Shore, let’s fight.”

“Okay.” Left Shore didn’t refuse. They fought in the practice ground, and the result…

Beanie was crushed!

This time, Left Shore didn’t use any tricks or schemes. As Beanie himself put it, Left Shore beat him fair and square, and no matter how unwilling he was, Beanie had to admit he’d lost his title as the Alliance’s top expert.

But would Beanie give up?

Never…