Now that he knew he could inspect others he couldn't help himself and spent the rest of his school day inspecting anyone he came across. Unlike his usually studious behaviour he even neglected giving his entire attention to the lessons. It did give him some idea as for what to expect out of abilities others had and he could gain.
There were actually a very small amount that like him had no ability whatsoever. It seemed it was rather rare for someone to not have any ability though as they were a very small minority of the results he got.
Next were what he would consider low level abilities. These wouldn't massively change someone's life, but would be a small improvement to their life. He saw abilities like smooth skin, bright eyes, vibrant hair and more that he would classify in this category he created. These people were only slightly better off than those without any abilities at all.
[Smooth Skin]
[Causes the skin's pores to be smaller than average and skin pigmentation to be more even. Reduces the occurrence of acne and similar skin conditions. Improves the person's appearance.]
[Bright Eyes]
[Increases the brightness and contrast of colour pigmentation in the eyes. Makes the person's eyes look more lively/energetic.]
[Vibrant Hair]
[Enhances the person's hair colour and improves the oil on the scalp to make the person's hair look healthier.]
Second were what he considered moderate level abilities. This was where the ability would have a major influence on someone's life because other people just wouldn't be able to compete in the same area without a similar ability of their own. He would put Mara's ability in here. They were a great boon to your life, but had significant limitations. Surprisingly these were probably the most common ones and why it seemed most people really excelled in at least one field.
[Enhanced Aerobic Capacity]
[Improves the person's athletic ability and stamina through improved efficiency in absorbing oxygen and getting rid of carbon dioxide.]
[Dense Bones]
[Increases the density of the person's bones making them heavier and more durable. Allows the person to exert greater strength or receive greater impacts without risking damage to their bones.]
[Perfect Pitch]
[Able to recognise and match any pitch flawlessly. Useful in things such as playing instruments or singing.]
The last category he created was what he considered high level abilities. This was the level where it would be considered beyond peak human in his previous life and had great potential and versatility. He would place both the ability he stole from his father in this category among the physical abilities and Jeffrey's ability among those of the mental type. The amount that seemed to fall in this category was the second smallest only after those without any abilities at all. He suspected there might only be a handful of people with such abilities in the entire school.
[Perfect Digestion]
[Able to absorb everything of value in what is consumed without waste. Reduces the amount necessary to consume to meet nutritional requirements. Also heavily reduces the absorption of any harmful substances consumed giving the person a minor form of poison resistance.]
[Eagle Sight]
[Improved sharpness at greater distances. Improved low-light vision. Improved colour perception. Improved dynamic vision. Useful for tasks where accuracy is of importance.]
[Knowledge Neural Net]
[Improves the connection between skill/knowledge related memories allowing for greater innovation by breaking apart and mixing skills and abilities in novel ways. Useful to for example scientists, inventors and businessmen.]
Stealing the highest level abilities like he had from his father would be the most difficult with the exception of lucky circumstances like he had encountered with Jackie. It was after all much harder to steal the woman from someone who was powerful in some way and was well regarded which were things that would come naturally to anyone with abilities of that level.
He did know though that he had the unique opportunity to stack abilities which could even bring out the best of more minor abilities. He could for example get an appearance improving ability of the highest category or he could collect a bunch of abilities of the same type, but of low level which together could match a moderate of possibly even high level ability. The former would be much easier to achieve than the latter. When well planned sometimes the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.
He would love to go for the biggest jackpots right off the bat, but that just wasn't realistic yet. It would become a lot easier once he made the most of his first ability and maybe gather a few other low or even moderate level abilities too.
90% of the abilities seemed to fall in either the low or moderate categories with the leftovers split between those with high level or no ability while made up mostly of the high level abilities.
Having gotten a clearer idea of what was available as far as abilities went he was going to need to do some planning. He also needed to determine what his bottom lines were going to be. He already knew he would be fine cucking and stealing abilities from those who had actively made his life more miserable. However what about those that hadn't necessarily participated, but stood by and did nothing to stop it that made up the majority of people.
He had been abandoned, relentlessly abused at home and bullied at school, Yet no one had ever done a thing to help him. How much did he really owe these people? For now he would just focus on the obvious targets and make the most of his first ability which was already a high level one with great potential until he made up his mind about what to do in regards to the other ones. A dark part of him considered that he should just take the things that would help him and that this world had denied him from those blessed by this world.
This did seem to be the purpose of the system based on its name and abilities after all. Shouldn't he make the most of what he was given after all the suffering he had to go through before that? Did he really owe them anything more?
Before he even realised he noticed the school day was already over. He chose not to try joining any of the sports clubs just yet as they would either decline or worse with his current physical state.
He's going to need to keep a low profile once he starts stealing everyone's powers. It'll be too much of a coincidence that he has all these powers that a bunch of people are complaining of losing. Some people with serious power may take notice and he could find himself in deeper trouble he could imagine.
I don't think other people can see their own "abilities", or can realize losing them in short term. If they could have been able to, he and his father would have seen that he didn't have the same talent. They either realize it months later or think that it is stress related and temporary.
Probably they would think that he is a late boomer, getting successful after high school (teens) instead of middle school (puberty).
Having one a high level physical and one high level mental skill is more than enough actually.
The problem is, skill after early teenage years don't beat old money. Even without skills, those mental types would retain the "knowledge".
Thus you are right on that point. Cheating would get these women in deep trouble and gain him many strong enemies in the long run, especially amongst richer men.
Money could buy skilled people after all.
Even the top level abilities aren't that noticeable at least on the surface. Though loosely inspired by MHA quirks they're much simpler. Even his father which has the highest grade of abilities available only makes him somewhat akin to a budget captain America. None of the higher recover just the physique itself.
For the lower grades it's even less noticeable and those make up the vast majority of abilities in the stories world.
Also though I haven't addressed it yet people don't see them as abilities and have no way to check for them. They just see it as part of normal genetic diversity. Just like how we don't see someone that's very smart as having some special ability, but rather just an innate talent. If they wake up one day dumber we don't go around thinking someone stole their intelligence ability. Same would be the case here.
The world kind of falls in the middle of our world and one like MHA. Though people have what could be classed as abilities they are all purely extensions of regular bodily functions. So no people with wings or other extra limbs or horns or breathing fire etc.
@Degoneth The majority of abilities won’t even really be all that noticeable. Would anyone think someone stole something from them if their hair suddenly became slightly drier or their skin slightly less clea? Without knowledge of abilities which this world doesn’t have they would just ascribe it to some natural process.
@prognastat Hmm, good points. I can imagine some secret society folk may have a clue but most would lack the proper perspective to even understand the possibility.
@Murky Since it’s a world where they don’t even have the tools to identify an ability nor is there an awakening since it’s just their regular genetics and no one has special abilities that indicate some greater range of abilities that imply maybe taking powers was an option no one would imagine stealing them would be an option since only the system opens it up as a possibility.