If You Stay Within the Limits of a Physical Human, You'll Just Evaporate in a Nuclear Blast

I don’t remember exactly what triggered it. But for as long as I’ve been self-aware, I’ve yearned to be "The Eminence in Shadow."

Anime, manga, movies—honestly, it didn’t matter. As long as it was an Eminence in Shadow, I was down for whatever.

I didn't want to be the protagonist, and I definitely didn’t want to be the final boss. I wanted to be that mysterious figure who stays in the background, intervenes from the shadows, and flexes his true power on the down-low.

I admired that kind of existence, and I wanted to become it.

For most kids, their hero was some caped crusader. For me, it was the guy pulling the strings from the dark. That was all there was to it.

The only difference between me and the other kids was that my admiration wasn’t some passing phase. It was a fire that burned deep in my soul, a constant, unquenchable drive that pushed me forward.

Karate, boxing, kendo, MMA... I went all-out to master everything I needed to get strong, all while keeping my real abilities hidden. It was all for that one day.

In school, I played the part of the average Joe. I was just your harmless, forgettable Mob A.

But behind the scenes, I poured every waking second into my training.

That was my youth. That was my student life.

As time went on, however, a sense of dread began to creep in. The time had come to face reality.

I realized that no matter what I did, it was all pointless.

No matter how many martial arts I mastered, I would never obtain the overwhelming power of the Eminence in Shadow from the stories.

At most, I could take down a few thugs. If someone pulled a gun, things would get dicey. If I were surrounded by fully armed soldiers, it’d be game over.

The Eminence in Shadow getting his ass kicked by regular soldiers... what a joke.

Even if I trained for decades, even if I became the world’s strongest fighter, I’d still be toast if an army cornered me. Or maybe not? Maybe a human who trains hard enough could potentially fight off a whole squad.

But let’s say I actually managed to take down an army. If a nuke dropped on my head, I’d still just evaporate. That’s the hard limit of being human.

And I can say this with absolute certainty: the Eminence in Shadow I admire doesn’t get vaporized by nukes. Therefore, I had to become a human who could survive a nuclear blast.

What did I need to avoid being vaporized?

Punching power?

A body made of steel?

Infinite stamina?

No, nothing like that.

I needed something else—a different kind of power.

Yeah, Magic Power, Mana, Ki, Aura—whatever you wanted to call it. I had to tap into an unknown energy.

That was the answer I finally reached after facing reality head-on.

Now, if I told someone I was looking for Magic Power, they’d probably doubt my sanity.

Honestly, I’d doubt their sanity too.

But here’s the thing.

No one in this world has ever proven that Magic Power exists. But then again, no one has ever proven that it doesn't.

You can’t obtain the power I’m looking for while staying sane. It’s something that can only be found on the other side of madness.

From that point on, my training became excruciating.

Nobody knew how to master things like Magic Power, Mana, Ki, or Aura.

I sat in Zen meditation, stood under freezing waterfalls, meditated, fasted, mastered yoga, converted to different religions, searched for spirits, prayed to God, and even crucified myself.

There was no "right" answer. I just had to keep charging forward through the darkness along the path I believed in.

Time passed, and I reached the final summer of my high school years.

Magic Power, Mana, Ki, and Aura were all still nowhere to be found...

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By the time I finished my usual training session, it was pitch black outside.

I pulled on the underwear I’d tossed aside and slipped into my school uniform.

I hadn't mastered the unknown power yet, but I’d been feeling a real "spark" in my recent training.

Take right now, for instance.

My head was flickering with light and my vision was swaying uncontrollably.

Is this Magic Power? Or maybe Aura?

I could definitely feel its influence.

I’d call today’s session a total success. Strip naked in the woods to feel the pulse of the universe? Check. Bash my head against a massive tree to physically purge stray thoughts and stimulate my brain into awakening unknown powers? Check.

It was a perfectly logical training regimen.

Man, my vision is really blurring.

It felt a bit like I’d given myself a concussion.

With light-headed footsteps, as if I were walking on air, I started heading down the mountain.

That’s when I saw it: two swaying lights.

They were crossing in front of me, almost like they were swimming through the air.

How mysterious. They were beckoning to me with an eerie, inviting glow.

"Is that... Magic Power?"

I stumbled toward them with unsteady steps.

It has to be... it must be Magic Power!

Before I knew it, I was sprinting. Even when I tripped over tree roots, I just kept rolling forward, moving like a wild beast.

"Magic Power! Magic Power! Magic Power! MAGICPOWERMAGICPOWERMAGICPOWER!!!!"

I lunged toward the two lights to seize them...

"Huh...?"

A pair of headlights bleached the world white.

The screeching of brakes echoed inside my skull.

Impact tore through my body, and my... Magic Power...

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

As it turned out, I did find Magic Power.

When I woke up, the air was practically swimming with it. It felt a bit different from those two lights I saw at the end, but hey, details, details.

Oh, and as a side note—hardly worth mentioning, really—I’d been reincarnated. I guess finding Magic Power must have opened the door to reincarnation or something. Whatever.

Currently, I’m a male infant a few months old. My consciousness only fully cleared up recently, and my sense of time is still a bit fuzzy, so I’m not sure about the specifics.

I can’t understand the language yet either, but I know enough to see the civilization is roughly around the level of medieval Europe. That’s good enough for me.

The main thing is that I have Magic Power now. That’s everything. I couldn’t care less about the "process" or any extra "bonuses."

I noticed the Magic Power the moment I woke up. Those fluffy, glowing particles felt exactly like the sensation I had in my previous life when I ran through flower fields naked looking for spirits.

See? That training wasn’t for nothing. Thanks to that, I was able to perceive Magic Power immediately, and now I can manipulate it like it’s a part of my body. The sensation is just like when I was naked on that cross like Jesus... or was it when I was dancing naked to those different gods? Probably a bit of everything.

I’ve already confirmed that I can use Physical Reinforcement.

By using all this spare time as an infant to train, this time for sure, I’ll become the Eminence in—oh, wait. I'm about to crap myself.

Now that I think about it, I heard birds just let it fly whenever, and human babies are pretty much the same. No matter how much my reason tries to fight it, my instincts are whispering to let it go. However, thanks to a lifetime of training, I can use Physical Reinforcement to tighten my anal sphincter and buy myself enough time to...

"WAAAAAAAHHHH!"

...call for help.