At the very instant he fell for the first time, his consciousness, in a panic, had completely lost all sense and control over the mech. At that moment, however, the faint awareness formed by the sensors, which had always been hidden in his mind, swiftly filled the void.

Schneider had not made a misjudgment at first—William Carter was indeed falling straight forward.

But the appearance of that mysterious consciousness instantly changed the mech’s direction. Under its control, the mech could have avoided falling altogether and, relying on the mech’s internal energy, could have stood back up during the fall.

However, after a brief moment of distraction, William Carter quickly regained his composure. Once he recovered, his own consciousness naturally took over from that mysterious awareness and began to control the mech.

If the sensor consciousness had remained in control, the mech would definitely have been able to stand up. But the only consequence of switching control midway was that, after pausing in midair for 0.1 seconds, William Carter’s mech changed direction and crashed heavily to the ground.

When Schneider had regained his composure outside, William Carter had already figured out the key point and boldly handed over control of the mech to the sensor consciousness.

Like a natural-born mech pilot, the sensor consciousness controlled the mech to follow Schneider’s pace at a steady, unhurried walk, just like an ordinary person, without the slightest strain or awkwardness. Of course, this result left Schneider, who had just come from the rookie ranks, utterly baffled.

Chapter 10 Genius

“All right, pal… oh, brother, I mean, you’ve passed. Yes, I guarantee you’ve learned how to walk.” Schneider declared with absolute confidence.

With a slight smile, he hadn’t expected that the transition from friend to brother would happen so quickly, and right from Schneider’s own mouth.

Actually, from William Carter’s usual observations, Schneider was a rather proud person. His circle of friends wasn’t large, and in the academy, only a few other students who were also hailed as geniuses could call him brother.

Vaguely, William Carter even felt a hint of pride, because he knew very well that before today, he could never have gained the other’s recognition.

But at the same time, he also felt a bit nervous. Fortunately, he hid it well—even Schneider didn’t notice anything amiss.

“Isn’t being able to walk a perfectly normal thing?”

“Normal? Oh, yes, very normal.” Schneider looked up and replied blankly.

When someone who thinks of himself as a genius—and is recognized as such by most people—suddenly encounters a genius several times stronger than himself, it’s inevitable to feel a bit of disappointment.

If he were narrow-minded, his heart would surely be filled with resentment. But fortunately, Schneider wasn’t like that. He quickly adjusted his emotions and didn’t let anyone see anything wrong.

However, perhaps because his mental strength had greatly increased, William Carter still keenly caught that fleeting change in his mood. Still, although he heard the trace of dejection in the other’s voice, he didn’t feel any sense of triumph. After all, it wasn’t his own consciousness controlling the mech.

“So, what do we do now?”

“Now…”

Suddenly, a video request flashed before William Carter’s eyes. Upon answering, he saw Schneider’s lecherous face asking, “Have you ever raised a child?”

For some reason, seeing Schneider let go of his psychological burden made William Carter feel relaxed as well, but he was completely baffled by the question.

He was only eighteen—how could he have raised a child? Or maybe he’d misheard, and Schneider was talking about a pet?

But seeing Schneider’s serious expression, William Carter thought for a moment and was sure he’d never raised a child, so he shook his head.

Seeing him shake his head and getting a definite answer, Schneider asked, “Do you know what a child wants to do most after learning to walk?”

“I don’t know, maybe… run?”

“No, not run—jump.” Schneider said smugly.

“Jump? Are you sure?” William Carter asked in surprise.

“Yes, I’m sure. So now, we’re going to practice jumping.”

“All right, then.”

Schneider closed the video, feeling pleased with himself. After a child learns to walk, do they want to run or jump? Who knows…

He turned around, stretched out his arms, bent his knees slightly, and leapt upward. The mech’s jumping power was strong, because every mech had a reaction force device installed in its feet. Otherwise, something weighing over 60 tons could never leave the ground.

The mech jumped to a height of about a meter, traced a beautiful arc in the air, and landed firmly several meters away. Schneider performed a textbook beginner’s mech jump, and all his hard work had paid off.

“So, did you see clearly?” Schneider straightened up and continued to nag, “For your first practice, you don’t need to jump that high. As long as both feet leave the ground, that’s enough. To achieve a graceful posture like mine, it’s im…pos…si…ble… without at least a year of practice—Heaven, oh my god, how did you do that?”