Effort&Conclusion
"Can someone without a quirk become a hero?"
The question caught him a bit off guard as he never really considered the issue.
After all, are there still people who are born quirkless for the last 8 years? He had seen the statistics and honestly finding one is even harder than finding a shiny pokemon, and that's counting the lasts generation where quirkless people were slightly more uncommon.
With the odds of a person being born quirkless immensely decreasing with each generation, Thau legit didn't think he would realistically meet someone under 20 or so who didn't have a quirk.
But statistics aside, the issue was worth pondering.
Realistically speaking could they?
Yes, but it wouldn't be a very smart thing to do.
In truth, unless you had a pretty awesome quirk, heroes were not exactly the dream profession.
Sure if you were flashy and could attract popularity you could still make quite a good amoubt of money compared an usual job, but if you weren't powerful enough meeting an even slightly more trained psycho could spell some pretty bad results for you, if not death.
(cough Stein cough)
And for a quirkless person the chance of the worst hapenningwas much higher.
But was it impossible? No, you'd just have to give your life's hard work to end up as a relatively mediocre hero… Unless you decide on taking a tony stark approach and making some high tech armor.
'Which isn't impossible with today's levels of technology and considering the already existing hero-supporting gear.'
People at this age still seemed to have yet to consider such an approach to technology, or at least he didn't see any techjacket type pro hero on the internet.
Sure some heroes rely pretty heavily on hero supporting gear but none reached the level it was more the equipment that made the hero instead of the quirk.
'Speaking of which could I make iron man's armor? Doesn't seem impossible considering my first quirk? Are there engineering types talented or something similar? Worth looking into it later…'
His own thoughts aside, how should he answer her?
From their brief conversation it's not hard to know why the woman was asking. She briefly paused when mentioning her son, and 'can one be a hero?', that is the question of someone who still hasn't settled in any kind of job or taken a beating from society.
'Just to be sure though…'
"Are you asking for your son?"
"H-how did you-"
"It's pretty obvious Inko-san. So he is quirkless? And want to become a hero?"
"...Yes that's indeed the case, my little Izuku has always admired All Might and wanted to be a hero but… with his situation I don't think…"
As her voice gradually weakened and her eyes became downcast, Thau could clearly see the woman's sadness for her son being unable to realize his dream.
"I see, to be honest I don't really know but I think the question of being a hero doesn't depend on the matter of quirk."
"Eh? Why do you say so?"
She asked as his puffy eyes widened a bit and turned from her hands to him.
"Well if having a quirk was really all that mattered, everyone with a quirk would be heroes, But that's not what happens right? So being a hero doesn't depend on quirks and therefore not having a quirk doesn't mean you can't be a hero. The question is, does your son have what it takes to be a hero?"
Being a bit swept into his pace Inko couldn't help but pause as her mind followed with his question.
Did her son, Izuku have what it takes to be a hero? Actually if not a quirk what does it take to be a hero?
Sensing her confusion Thau paused a bit to let her think before continuing.
"If you look at things from an objective point of view, some heroes have quirks that honestly aren't that much different from quirkless people or are only focused in a type of activity. And even with awesome quirks one still needs to put immense effort and some inspiration to really become a top-tier hero."
"So the question then becomes, can Izuku put hundreds if not thousands or even millions of times the same effort as other heroes just to be able to do nearly close to what they can do? Can he train his own body and train in fighting so much he wouldn't lose against a hero who mediocrely trains? Can he train his analisis and on time response so he can quickly come up with counter attacks and contingency plans so that even as a normal person he can take down a villain?"
Thaumiel turned back the question to her.
To be fair he could just say he believed a normal person could become a hero, after all a batman could totally exist in today's world, if a unhumanly rich and determined guy popped around.
But he felt answering like that would be a bit irresponsible.
If he said her son could be a hero and then she helps him become one and he dies then she would feel immense guilt.
But if the kid is determined enough to want to fight off his mother just so he can go and try to become a hero and they both clash strongly because of his advice then her household would become a nightmare and the kid most likely still tries to become a hero.
Thus he felt it was better to delve deeper and break down the issue then put back the decision in her hand.
Can he become a hero?
Well, can your son put in the effort to become one despite his 'disability'?
After being 'enlightened' by him, Inko turned pensive as she seemed to go through her understanding of her son to see if he could put in such efforts.
It was a bit hard to say because the boy was only 4, but with this question in mind she could from now on measure whenever her son would put in actual effort toward his 'dream' or not.
If he did, she as his mother would give him all support, and trust his determination and decision.
If he didn't put in any effort and try at all, but still kept insisting then she could only cut him off like a responsible mother would.
Having figured things out thanks to the advice Inko was no longer as confused, and turned to give Thaumiel a grateful look.
It's quite unbelievable she would rely on a 4 year old to figure things out, and even more amazing he would successfully help her.
"Thau-kun, I swear you are the most sensible 4 years old I've ever seen."
She said a bit dumbfounded as she used her hand to pat his head.
"A-ah haha you think so? But Inko-san I'm almost 5 you know?"
He responded, noticing that he perhaps acted a bit too 'sagely' for a 4 years old… but hey, sometimes kids give some pretty good advice.
"Is that so? But even then Thau-kun is the smartest."
"Eh~? Fufu you think so?"
Feeling a bit embarrassed not still used he simply enjoyed the headpat without commenting further.
'Well being a kid does have its good sides~'
"Thaumiel, I'm already done speaking with the doctor. Come on, let's go."
Hearing the very familiar voice, that for some reason once again had an unusual frigid tone, Thau froze in place as he stiffly turned to face Makima.
'Somehow… my points in survival are picking some danger waves here!'
"Y-Yes!"
Hurriedly stepping away he came over to Makima's side, while feeling some cold sweat dripping down his back.
'D-did her talking with the doctor not go well, why does she seem a tad bit mad?'
A bit confused by Makima's sudden turn of moods, especially since he knew how frigid she usually was, Thaumiel could only follow after her a bit confused after saying bye to Inko and to Doctor Yukimura.
With the walk to the car being specially silent Thaumiel didn't mention anything as he knew the middle of the facility wasn't an appropriate place to ask stuff.
Once in the car though as he was about to start firing questions Makima took the first step handing him the documentation so he could have a look and in his surprise proceeded to smooth out his hair.
'Did Inko-san mess it up too much? I didn't know Makima had OCD though?'
Figuring out it was perhaps best to not delve further he focused on the documents.
For the quirk's name it was the one he had told Makima a while back after thinking of a more appropriate name.
'Chimera: A quirk of the transformation type. Allows for the user (Thaumiel Saintclair) to manifest animal-like characteristics through his body partially gaining the manifested animal trace properties. Observation: The user has been noted to possess some Inherited Mutant type quirk traces, and possess physical and mental capacities beyond age. The specific amount is not exactly determined.'
'So this is how she handled it. I had something similar in mind but, to think, Makima thought of such a plan as well.'
Originally he thought of making it a secondary trait of his quirk was to have the user be slightly improved physically and in the thinking aspect so as a result of the body's better adaptation to the quirk's factor.
As a result he could push the blame of him having a mind beyond his age and being able to learn or train stuff more easily into the quirk's 'side-effects'.
Makima's approach was slightly different but almost exactly the same in results.
She claimed he had inherited a small bit of his mother's quirk in a mutant type of trait.
Which wasn't exactly uncommon since people could have quirks in their body and inherent mutant traits from their parents that are completely separate.
(Tokoyami's dark shadow and bird head)
While his case was a bit of a stretch he was still acceptable.
As a result of the mutant trait he had a stronger body and a better brain, and since the exact amount of increase was vague and not described his increase in learning ability wouldn't be noticed since it wasn't quantified to begin with.
"With this you can keep increasing your talents to your heart's content. Without worrying or appearing suspicious, you'll face some focus from the quirk abusing department as it might look like you are making use of your quirk's properties to succeed in everything. But I'll handle that."
Makima said having already finished fixing his hair and starting to drive the car back home.
"I'll it be alright Auntie? I mean dealing with these kinds of things can lead up to you getting in trouble later on no?"
"It's alright, the department has been handling things, is mostly bureaucratic and only rarely involved. The altering of some documents will also not go noticed when I'm the one approving or rejecting said documents. Just try and limit yourself slightly so it doesn't look like you have multiple quirks. I'll also make some changes to your schedule and have a talk with Dynamo at the dojo so you can quickly master the fighting and martial arts talents. We will also discuss better about the way we can maximize the improvements of the quirk."
Listening to her Oratoria Thaumiel could only complain his quirk didn't immediately let him master things and required him to spend some considerable efforts in it.
'But well such are the pains of getting stronger… better than not having anything to improve after all no?'
"Thanks auntie."
"It's okay… we are family after all."
Feeling a bit warm inside he leaned onto the car's door as he mentally called up for the All Talents quirk.
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Name: [Thaumiel Saintclair]
Quirk :
First Quirk : All Talents
Second Quirk: Chimera
TTP : 1053
[Talents ]
Talent: Fishing(1) LV 1
Talent: Multitasking(1) LV47
Talent: Fighting(1) LV41
Talent: Calligraphy(1) Lv49
Talent: Reading(1) LV49
Talent: Linguistics(1) LV41
Talent: Academic(1) LV43
Talent: Kendo(1) LV 1
Talent: Martial Arts(1) Lv43
Talent: Throwing(1) LV1
Talent: Gambling(1) LV1
Talent: Medicine(1) LV1
Talent: Cooking(1) LV1
Talent: Fitness(1) LV44
Talent: Survival(450) LV34
Talent: Socialization(300) LV41
Talent: Parkour(1) LV30
Talent: Music(1) LV19
Talent: Meditation(50) LV51
Talent: Photography(1) LV5
Talent: Gardening(1) LV5
Talent: Teaching (1)LV1
Talent: Programming(1) LV38
Talent: Acting(1) LV15
Talent: Animal Taming(1) LV3
Talent: Cleaning(1) LV1
Talent: Yoga(1) LV36
Talent: Swiming(1) Lv20
Talent: Artisan(1) LV22
Talent: Thievery(1) LV10
Talent: Chimera Quirk Development (306) LV34
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[Perks]
[Ubermensch]
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'Some are not too far from 50 and I should be able to improve them to that level even without deliberately grinding the talents… seems that others still need a bit of work. I really can't wait for the perks that would come out of Martial Arts, Fitness, and fighting… even the quirk talent itself what would be the perk from the quirk? Would it be an awakening? A simple improvement… so much possibilities'
Pausing for a second as his mind dwelled on the possibilities a smile then blossomed onto his young face as he closed his mind.
'Beating All Might doesn't seem all that impossible anymore, guess I got what it takes to be the number one hero as well after all'
—
End of Vol 1 New Life New Situation
Start of Vol 2 Growing Pains
By the way I did a small update on the x-2 auxiliary chapter about the talent quirk and its mechanics, do check out if you have some time to waste around.