"Yes, I've finished learning the basic stances."

"Then, can I leave now?"

"Leave? No, absolutely not." Schneider shouted nervously.

"Oh..." William Carter was a bit surprised, but being able to befriend Schneider was quite a prestigious thing in the academy, so he didn't mind keeping him company a bit longer. It was just a bit boring to sit alone in the mech watching Schneider jump around.

"Alright, I hereby officially announce that you have completely mastered all one hundred and eight basic stances. Next... what's next?" Schneider felt dizzy for a moment and quickly checked the mech operation manual. He said, "Next is practicing combination stances."

"Okay," William Carter responded, then curiously asked, "How many combination stances are there?"

"Two thousand four hundred and thirty-six at level one difficulty, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four at level two, one thousand one hundred at level three..."

"Wait, wait..." William Carter immediately interrupted in shock and asked, "If I heard correctly, there seem to be a lot?"

"Yes, from the lowest level one difficulty to the highest level ten, there are over ten thousand combination stances in total. I guarantee, if you master them all, you'll rank among the top ten thousand mech experts in the world."

"Over ten thousand?" William Carter thought for a moment and finally decided it was time to have a serious talk: "Schneider, you don't expect me to master them all today, do you?"

"Well, if possible, that's what I'd hope for."

William Carter immediately rolled his eyes. What a joke—just those hundred-plus basic stances took him a full four hours. To master over ten thousand combination stances, who knows how long that would take.

If he really followed Schneider's request to master them all, he could forget about leaving here today.

Suddenly, a question came to mind, and William Carter curiously asked, "Schneider, how many have you mastered so far?"

"Me?" Schneider immediately puffed out his chest and said, "Since I moved up to the intermediate zone three years ago, I've already mastered sixty percent of the combination moves in the first five difficulty levels."

"There are just over ten thousand from level one to ten. Why haven't you mastered them all in three years?"

Schneider's mouth dropped wide open. If any other student asked an instructor such a question, they'd probably have been kicked out long ago. Just like now, although Schneider really wanted to kick him, thinking of William Carter's terrifying learning and adaptation speed, he held back in the end.

Even if he could beat William Carter today, with that monstrous rate of progress, Schneider was sure he'd soon be surpassed. The thought of such a freak being around him every day made him not dare to act rashly.

...

In the training camp hall, two people had been watching this training room the whole time. They had both checked the training records of the two inside.

Neither Schneider nor William Carter had set their records to private, so they could easily access them.

According to the records, Schneider was twenty-eight years old and had been studying mechs for fifteen years, meaning he started his mech piloting career at thirteen, when his mental power level reached level 3. Judging by his excellent results, he would likely have a chance to become an ace mech pilot after adulthood.

But the other record was a bit frightening.

William Carter, age: 18, years studying mech piloting: 0.

Unless it was deliberately altered, no one would put that number in the last field.

From the moment William Carter accidentally "crushed" Schneider, someone had already started paying attention here. After seeing William Carter's perfect performance, he was so surprised that he called his companion over, and the two of them observed for a full four hours, even contacting the outside world through Skynet.

Chapter 12: Talent (Part 1)

New white lights kept appearing in the void, each one representing someone being revived or leaving.

A rat-faced man suddenly walked in through the main door and approached the two.

"Gentlemen, the information you requested has been checked."

"Why so slow? Don't tell me you couldn't find it."

"Oh, you're joking. To thoroughly investigate someone's background in such a short time—here in Karim, only we have that capability. It's just that you requested not to transmit via Skynet directly, so it took me some time to get here..."

The two exchanged a glance. One waved his hand, stopping the man's explanation, and said, "Alright, where is it?"

The newcomer took out two virtual magnetic cards, and the two each inserted one into the multifunctional watches on their wrists. After a moment, one said, "I'll transfer the investigation fee to your company."

"Ah, thank you. If our service satisfies you, you're welcome to consult us again."

With a flash of white light, the man logged off directly.

"Bolton, what do you think?"