Bang!

The top half of the iron pole fell to the ground, crushing an entire forest and making a dull noise. Only then did the crowd return to their senses and utter waves of exclamations...

"The iron pole has been cut off!"

"Does this count as a completion for him?"

"Just now, he seemed to have missed it, but he did indeed hit the target!"

Compared to the recruits, Vanessa, Leopold, Instructor Bob and the others were the most surprised. Although the action Steve had just completed was not perfect, as the speed of shooting was not fast enough, the time of drawing the sword was a little too slow, and the entry point of hitting the target was not accurate enough, he had still done it!

"He accomplished the level one combat skill Horizontal Killing in one try! He really did it! Although it was not particularly perfect, it can still be counted as qualifying!" Quentin said, still shocked.

"He's not just qualified, he's famous! The fact alone that he could reach this point, makes him much better than some of the veteran armored robot operators." Spencer exclaimed.

Only then did everyone wake up and realize that Steve had only watched the movement twice, yet had still been able to accomplish it his first time! Armored robot operators who had practiced for a month or two might still not be able to do as well as Steve!

Many people couldn't even grasp the timing of pulling out the sword, or would fall down halfway through the movement, while others could not hit the target and so on. Even with two months of practice, one might still not be able to hit the target 100% of the time, much less cut it in half at the same time!

"Unfortunately, it's not perfect enough." Steve sighed and returned to Vanessa.

When the others heard this, their emotions were complex. Although Leopold, Spencer, and Quentin had seen geniuses before, it was their first time seeing a genius like Steve. For a while, they didn't know how to react.

"Well, well, this is not very good." Vanessa criticized him. "You are a little too slow when drawing the sword, and your sword did not land in the middle. Also, you are not fast enough. You simply have too many shortcomings."

Truth be told, she was so shocked that even she wanted to shout "Oh my god!" and then use a few vulgarities to express her inner feelings. However, in order to maintain the image of a professional and aloof instructor in front of Steve, she tried not to let her face show any emotion.

"Instructor Vanessa's eyes are sharp indeed, and I agree with you. It would be better if I drew the sword a second faster and tilted the body to the right before sprinting." Steve seemed to have found a confidante, so he shared with her his take on the situation.

As Vanessa listened to him, her eyelids were jumping constantly, and she touched her face and nodded awkwardly. She then smiled and voiced her approval, "Yes! Yes! That's what I think too."

She was actually itching to give Steve a good beating, as Steve's analysis had been far more detailed than hers. As Steve's instructor, this made Vanessa feel inferior, like she was good for nothing. Sometimes, when the students were too outstanding, it was a blow to the teacher's ego.

Lieutenant Leopold, Derek, and Quentin suddenly felt sorry for Vanessa. It was so demoralizing to meet a gifted student like Steve.

"I'd be too demoralized to teach him." Quentin couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry, while looking at Vanessa.

"Vanessa's skin is thick enough. However, she clearly was not able to analyze the situation as well as Steve, so all she can do is nod her head and agree with him!" Lieutenant Leopold was also embarrassed for her. He wanted to laugh, but was unable to.

Regardless of their opinion about Vanessa, there was no denying that they all felt that they had underestimated Steve's talent! He was able to perform a level one armored robot operator skill on his first day, and even the legendary geniuses that they've heard about could not do this!

"You may not have done it perfectly this time, but after more practice, you will be better." Vanessa reassured Steve.

Actually, she was the one who needed to be comforted the most. She had wanted to give Steve a difficult action so that he would be unable to complete it, which would then allow her to find an opportunity to punish him. But, unexpectedly, Steve had successfully done it!

"Yes Instructor, I will practice diligently and do it as perfectly as you did next time." Steve nodded.

In the distance, the recruits who were still learning the first set of basic movements felt equally perplexed. Steve was no longer a man, but a God in their hearts! The God of armored robot operators!

They already had so much difficulty in just completing the first set of movements, but Steve had already completed a level-one armored robot operator skill. Compared to Steve, they felt like it was the difference between a man and God!

However, Steve didn't pay attention to other people's thoughts. Instead, he summed up his previous experience, finding many shortcomings. So, he began to try the Horizontal Killing movement again.

As another 100-meter-high, 50-meter-thick iron pole rose on the plain, Steve sprinted at it again, golden lightning flashing by as he went. He was moving a little faster than before.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing signaled that the second iron pole was cut off. This time, Steve's sword was inserted in half of the scabbard, but it was still far behind Vanessa's speed.

"Not good enough!" Vanessa exclaimed. "A perfect entry, at the moment of cutting off the target, is without any sound. Are you ringing a bell when you cut off your target now, as you're making such a loud noise?"

Vanessa soon took on the role of a stern instructor, scolding Steve mercilessly. Steve thought about the shortcomings of his previous attempts. This time was a little better than the first attempt, but it still wasn't perfect.

As Vanessa said, the perfect Horizontal Killing movement was soundless when the target was cut in half. This simulated the experience of killing the enemy at a fast speed, where the enemy would be killed even before feeling pain!

"Give me ten new targets!" Steve said calmly.

After he spoke, ten huge iron poles rose from the plain. Steve immediately began to practice once more. Although Vanesa was scolding Steve, she was also shocked by his growth rate. There was a clear growth for almost every shot, and his growth rate was very noticeable.

His practicing lasted all the way till dusk. By this time, Lucy and Sofia had finally mastered the second basic movement, which was sprinting. Stuart could also take strides, but he couldn't run yet.

Others were still stuck in the first movement of walking. Although all of them had succeeded in taking their first step, they still needed to practice walking around until it became habitual.

"That's the end of today's practice. You've all done a good job." Instructor Bob shouted out some encouragement.

However, none of them were happy. Their eyes couldn't help but look in Steve's direction, and they were greatly agitated.