Secondy, huge risk to drop it now.

I've met people who either risked or dropped out of school to pursue a career(e.g. sports).

Most (if not all - we lost touch so I don't know) regretted the decision and in one instance rebelled against her parents wanting her to somehow juggle school and sport (which was serious at that point because she was part of the junior national team) and dropped out of the latter altogether, despite her parents wishes.

It won't hurt to wait those two years or so and instead hone those skills the same way they did all this time and just have a normal life before getting thrown in this high pressure environment that the world of 3D artists decidedly is.

Even though it's just two years, eighteen year olds on average handle many situations much better than sixteen year olds.

there are many tales of gifted children elevated to a pedastal who by 25 or 30 already feel like their life is over, who burn out and stop doing whatever it was they were so regarded for.

The best thing for someone like this would be to find them a tutor who is much better than them, so they keep the humility and curiosity required to keep growing. And never to let the people around them big them up too much. I say this as someone that in some ways went through same