Cid Kagenou

• Shadow
• Cid

“	My name is Shadow. I lurk in the shadows, and I hunt the shadows…	„
	~ Shadow

“	I honestly can't remember what catalyzed this desire. All I know is that I've admired shadowbrokers for as long as I can remember. Was it a certain Anime? Or was it a manga?- or a movie? Eh, I guess it doesn't matter. I was all in anything that featured a mastermind, or an eminence in shadow, as I like to call them. These characters were never the protagonists or final bosses but were always relegated to a role behind the scenes were they flaunted their powers and meddled in the affairs of others. I've always looked up to the men in the shadows. I wanted to be one of them. Think of children who worship their favorite superheroes. That was me with master puppeteers.	„
	~ Cid

Summary

Cid Kagenou (シド・カゲノウ, Shido Kagenou), formerly Minoru Kageno (影かげ野の実みのる, Kageno Minoru), also known as Shadow, is the main protagonist of The Eminence in Shadow. He is also the leader of Shadow Garden, an organization that seeks to destroy the Diabolos cult.

He was a Japanese teenager suffering with a severe case of infatuation with a fantastical goal, to become the eminence in the shadow, and to achieve it he mastered martial arts, trained his body to peak condition, among many other skills that would aid him in his goal. However, he realized that no matter how skilled and strong he became he would always get beat by a group of armed men and thus he would always fail to become what he aimed to become. No matter what skills he attained if he were to be hit with a nuclear bomb he would die instantly. With this in mind he decided to research a way to unlock supernatural abilities, however, while practicing awakening his abilities by hitting his head on a tree until he got concussions he mistakenly took the lights of a truck to be the light upon achieving enlightenment and ran straight towards them. And thus the life of Cid Kagenou began, a mob-character in a fantasy world that may be more than what he seems to be.

Powers and Stats

Tier: 7-C physically, High 7-A with magic, 6-C with I AM ATOMIC

Name: Minoru Kageno (previous life), Cid Kagenou, Shadow, John Smith, Mundane Man

Origin: The Eminence in Shadow

Gender: Male

Age: 17 (Previously), 15, 16 (Currently)

Classification: Human, Dark Knight

Powers and Abilities:

• Abilities
• Resistance

• Superhuman Physical Characteristics (With magic one can surpass the limitations of Humans)
  • Regeneration (Low; Can regenerate surface level wounds, and missing fingernails)
• Acrobatics (Surface Running; Can run up the sides the sides of buildings)
  • Afterimage Creation (Shown here)
• Genius Intelligence
  • Information Analysis (Just by staring at his opponent he can learn about them, such as their fighting preferences. He can also gauge his opponents including their condition, and know exactly how a fight would end)
  • Analytical Prediction (Can predict his opponents' movements with sheer calculation)
• Weapon Mastery & Martial Arts (Learned everything from karate to boxing, from swordplay to mixed martial arts, before being reincarnated])
  • Marksmanship (Cid is a great marksman who can snipe his opponents from far away without missing)
• Magic
  • Weapon Creation (The slime bodysuit can morph into weapons)
  • Fear Manipulation & Pressure Points (Magic power can cause fear. Cid is capable target his opponents pressure points)
  • Extrasensory Perception (Could sense magic even as a baby)
  • Enhanced Senses (Vision; Could see magic energy with his eyes. Magic can be used to increase one's vision capabilities )
  • Light Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Damage Boost & Healing (Low; Can release a downpour of light that replenishes energy, promotes magic circulation, and heals minor wound, and can increase the power of his strikes)
    • Soul Manipulation (Cid's light heals not only external wounds, but also the soul itself)
  • Transmutation & Purification (Type 2; Can cure individuals afflicted by Demon Possession also known as the Curse of Diablos. The curse also impacts the soul of the afflicted. Transformed Alpha back from a stinking pile of flesh to how she was originally)
  • Sound Manipulation & Explosion Manipulation (I AM ATOMIC removes all sound from the surrounding & creates a massive explosion)
  • Air Manipulation (Can unleash whirlwinds that can destroy his enemies)
  • Damage Reduction (Magic can be used on certain body parts to reduce the damage from opponents' attacks)
  • Weather Manipulation (Can create thunderstorms with his magic)
  • Longevity (Can use magic to live for 200 years)
• Accelerated Development (Battle & Training, Physical Statistics & Abilities; During the course of a fight his movements become more and more refined. Cid Is constantly training even while being causal at school. In a short period of time his magic got stronger than what his strongest attack, I AM ATOMIC, was, with I AM ATOMIC not only becoming stronger, but he also developed new ways of using it)
  • Statistics Amplification (Cid can break his limits while in combat)
• Supernatural Luck (The random story he made up about the Cult of Diablos and the decedents of heroes, turned out to in fact be true. A random throw on a map landed on exactly where his sister was being held captive. Got lost, and his enemy conveniently ended up in that exact same direction. The identity of John Smith which he assumed to play around and make a lot of money, conveniently ended up helping defeat his enemies, while protecting his allies, making it seem as if he planned everything from the start. Ran away to the Oriana Kingdom, and conveniently ended up thwarting his enemies plan, making it seem as if his enemies were dancing in the palm of his hands the whole time)
• Social Influencing (Coercion; Beta became completely attached to him after spending time with him, and all of Shadow Garden's members are convinced he has absolute strength, knowledge, and wisdom. Even Gamma who is a genius that can recreate products made in Japan, is convinced that Cid has divine knowledge. Was able to convince Yukime who is very intelligent that she was wrong and that she is no match for his intellect)
• Flight (Has soared through the sky along with Akane)
• Power Bestowal (Granted Rose some of his power)
• Instinctive Action (Highly trained fighters are said to move through instinct, doing things even before they can think. For example, Alexia can react without thinking, something that has become a part of her after many years of training. She can also evade attacks she isn't even aware of. Rose can react before thinking and has sharpened instincts that tell her when it's the right time to attack. Experienced fighters like Rex are shown to dodge attacks through pure instinct)
• Thread Manipulation (Using only 10 fingers he can manipulate and control a large number of wires)
• Aura & Supernatural Willpower (Can emanate waves of raw power, which is his willpower given form)
• Size Manipulation & Body Control (Cid can reduce the size of magic particles; Cid's magic particles are below microscopic and can control his body parts and play dead for some time)
• Power Mimicry (Copied Rose's swordsmanship after seeing it once)
• Stealth Mastery (Has greater stealth than Epsilon who can conceal her presence, and is described as being practically one with the air itself)

Resistance to:

• Fire Manipulation & Heat Manipulation (Magic can protect users from fire and heat. Slime Body Suit was unaffected by the Fire)
• Power Nullification & Absorption (Can break out from his magic being blocked and absorbed at his school. Initially was unable to use magic in the Sanctuary, but eventually broke out from his magic being blocked)

Attack Potency: Town level physically (Clashed with clone of Hero Olivia), Large Mountain level with magic (Can dissipate all clouds across the entire sky across the horizon. Clashed with and eventually killed Ragnarok which was comparable to him at that time. He also fought Alpha and Elisabeth and defeated them), Island level with I AM ATOMIC (His strongest attack, it is above his magic which can cause this much damage)

Speed: Sub-Relativistic+ (Faster than when he was a 10 year old, and moved this fast), higher over time (Up until volume 2, he could be kept up somewhat by people such as Iris who are inferior to the Seven Shadows, however by volume 3, not even one of the Seven Shadows can perceive his movements)

Lifting Strength: Class 5 (Can hold down magical beasts, which are a cross between a bear and lion, without them being able to do anything), higher over time

Striking Strength: Town level physically (Capable of enduring his own strikes), Large Mountain level with magic (Should scale to his attack potency)

Durability: Town level physically, Large Mountain level with magic (Magic energy output decreases when it changes form. Hence, the magic output used for reinforcing the physical body is greater than the magic used externally on weapons. Therefore, durability should be comparable to his attack potency), Island level with I AM ATOMIC (Same as before. Should scale to his attack potency)

Stamina: Superhuman (Can function for at least a month without food and 10 days without water. Superior to Number 559 who can fight for 3 days and nights)

Range: Tens of Meters normally, Tens of Kilometers with Magic and I AM ATOMIC

Standard Equipment:

• Crowbars (Formerly): An item he used in his past life. He had two pairs of crowbars and would use them as a makeshift tonfa baton or as a club when battling biker gangs and bandits.
• Slime Bodysuit: A completely black bodysuit made from slime jelly mixed with black pigments. From this suit he can create weapons made of slime material, that is capable of stretching and he is able to extend them from any part of the suit.

Intelligence: Extraordinary Genius

• General Knowledge
• Learning ability
• Observation, Analytical and Adaptability skills
• Martial Arts and Precision

Cid knows 5 writing system, Japanese hiragana script, Katakana script, characters, Arabic numerals and Romanized Japanese in addition to the new world's language. He also demonstrated superficial knowledge across a wide range of subjects, which Gamma utilized to develop Mitsugoshi—a market that sells numerous products from Cid's previous world, including food, clothing, and more. He teached Alpha how to build a two by four cabin alongside other things bringing up new topics every day for years. He was able to explain to the girls the fundamentals of banking and credit creation. He remembers a lot of tales from his previous world.

Cid excels in learning ability. With just 16 years of self-training in magic, he was able to surpass Fenrir to the point of replicating and even improving his best technique after seeing it only once. This technique was considered the absolute peak of Fenrir’s skills, which took him over a thousand of years to refine. Cid was even able to fight Fenrir while not using his main fighting style, relying solely on the use of pens as weapons.

He even created I AM ATOMIC and all its variants—an extremely complex technique in a world where merely shooting magic requires, from the perspective of Mordred, who has over 1,000 years of experience, an unthinkable level of control. While using I AM ATOMIC, Cid manipulates his magic omnidirectionally, making it expand to cover an entire city or even using it to cut anything as far as the eye can see. He even created a lower-range prototype at just 10 years old.

Cid is also highly skilled in observation. On his own, he discovered ways to use magic that even characters with over 1,000 years of experience hadn't noticed. For instance, he figured out how to use slime to maximize both the output and control of magic, alongside enhancing the performance of his clothes while fighting. Additionally, Cid also noticed that through compression, the output of magic becomes a thousand times stronger.

He was able to adapt to the magic system by comparing the martial arts of his previous world with those of the new one. He analyzed the pros and cons of the new fighting system and adjusted his own accordingly.

He even used his analytical skills during a terrorist attack. Every student wore collars that drained their magic, and once their magic reached zero, the collars would explode. Cid was able to understand these properties and later figured out which student was forcing others to give her their mana—allowing her collar to delay the explosion—through observation and analysis.

He was able to deduce that someone had been killed by bullets, even though the culprit tried to conceal the evidence with other wounds.

He was able to read Beatrix's attack, predicting its trajectory and, by reading her intent, realizing that she would stop just as the blade touches his neck, even though the strike emitted an aura of "certain death" meaning that intent couldn't be read by the attack itself.

By simply observing Aurora standing in front of him, arguably the most skilled fighters in the verse after Cid, he was able to determine how she fights, predict in parts her first attack, and eventually read her for the rest of the fight, and after just a few exchanges, Cid was able to anticipate the conclusion of the fight. He was also able to realize she wasn't at her prime. It's worth noting that Cid had never faced anyone who used Aurora's magic before, so this feat was achieved purely through his sharp observation and analysis in the moment, with basically no prior knowledge.

When facing Elizabeth, even while suppressed—Cid was initially able to match her, despite being attacked from behind. Eventually, he was able to predict attacks coming from all directions, including those from three different copies of Elizabeth. He performed these feats while having coins all over his slime bodysuit, which restricted his movement and made it harder for him to move freely. When Cid was no longer slowed down, he was able to dodge all of Elizabeth’s numerous attacks by merely walking and making microscopic movements, making it seem as though Elizabeth was the one missing. During this, he ignored the copies, who were attacking as well, and focused entirely on the real Elizabeth. Meaning he was able to mentally visualize dozens of different trajectories and timings of those bloody tentacles with outrageous precision alongside figuring out each time where to position himself to avoid them. To further showcase his spatial control, Cid is able to calculate distances down to the centimeter just by eyeballing.

Cid surpasses Goldy, who, by simply analyzing an opponent with a glance, can determine their "power level" based solely on appearance, such as muscles and aura. Goldy built his entire career on this analysis, never losing a single match because he always knew whether he could defeat his opponent. If he couldn't, he would simply retreat. This means his analyses were always accurate.

He should also surpass Gamma, who can determine someone's sword style simply by observing how they dodge.

He also showed that he doesn't only paying attention to his opponent but also analyzing the environment. He can read shadows on the floor or even the flow of magic in the air. Efficiently adapting to Fenrir's technique, which consists of creating fake magical afterimages while essentially disappearing, Cid wasn’t able to see through the technique directly the first time it was used but Cid was able to immediately understand that Fenrir was going to appear behind him and that he wouldn’t be able to evade the attack. However, he managed to counter it by moving away when the real sword touched him by using a soft technique, the touch helped him realize that the sword he was seeing was a fake and that the real sword was hidden. He made this reasoning while the sword was touching him but before it could damage him. Afterward, he began observing the flow of magic in the air and eventually figured out the real Fenrir.

He confirmed that he learned boxing, karate, MMA, and swordplay while implying that he knows even more. He created unconventional fighting styles on the spot, such as using wires and pens in combat, which he successfully employed against highly skilled fighters like Alpha and Fenrir—both of whom surpass Epsilon, who is regarded as the pinnacle of her generation in martial arts talent and intellect, as well as Iris, who is considered a gifted genius.

While impersonating John Smith, he created a wires-based fighting style where he controls the environment by positioning and moving countless threads with just his fingers, with this unconventional fighting style, he was considered leagues above all the Seven Shadows, demonstrating his sheer skill in controlling the battlefield. It also showcases his incredible ability to visualize the battlefield and his ability consider countless elements while fighting. To make this fighting style work, he had to constantly think about how to move each of his ten fingers, with each one controlling different threads, each thread having a specific position and way of controlling the field. All of this was done while reading, reacting to, and predicting each of his opponent's movements. He also deceives his opponents by using threads of different lengths and widths, concealing his true reach and only revealing the threads he wants his opponents to see, thus hiding his true intentions.

When he was Mundane, he used a sword style different from his main one—one that was more artistic. Despite this, Perv, who is considered master-level, described this artistic swordplay as a fusion of multiple martial arts so refined that even centuries of training wouldn't allow him to catch up. When he used his sword style, Cid was able to completely erase his preliminary movements, to the point that Iris—who, until then, could read his attacks based on the movements of his eyes and the tip of his sword—was no longer able to perceive his attacks. Cid should also be able to erase the sound from his attacks like Alpha, since she uses a lesser version of his swordplay.

He was even able to fight Oliver, whose power was dimensions beyond Cid’s, and in that moment, Cid had his magic sealed, meaning he couldn't increase his physical capabilities. Despite this, Cid was eventually able to win through sheer skill avoiding fatal injuries despite being able to only barely move when facing Oliver's speed, even managing to avoid getting hit in his arteries. This showcases his knowledge of all the weak points of the human body. Each time Oliver attacked, he was able to predict the trajectories of her strikes, despite her being too fast for him, and dodged just enough to ensure each attack didn’t land on a fatal point. Cid also demonstrated perfect dodging and absurd precision by calculating the bare minimum distance needed to evade attacks, allowing swords to graze him but without causing any damage.

He also showcased exceptional sniping abilities, able to fire slime-bullets using magic while simply aiming with his eyes, precisely killing each moving target with a single bullet by targeting vital points while standing on a roof. Even able to throw playing cards with magic, a feat noted to require a high level of magical control due to the low conductivity of magic in paper, Cid manages to consistently hit the foreheads of his targets despite this disadvantage.

Cid even demonstrated the ability to replace his blood with tiny magic particles, allowing him to stay alive even with his heart stopped. Even the smallest error would have resulted in his death.

Weaknesses: Can be somewhat arrogant.

Notable Attacks/Techniques:

Ebony Swirl: A technique in which his sword extends until it's several times as long as he is tall, then, a jet-black whirlwind bursts forth, slicing through his target like they’re slips of paper. I AM ATOMIC (アイ・アム・アトミック, AI AMU ATOMIKKU): A esoteric technique developed after incessantly training himself in order to figure out how to not be vaporized by a nuclear weapon, to which he realized that the answer was to become one himself. The destructive power of this ability is enough to have destroyed many walls of an underground structure, reaching the surface and then exploding above the clouds, dispersing the rain clouds over an entire city, shaking every house in the city. This attack leaves not even a single speck of dust of his opponent behind when used. I AM THE ALL-RANGE ATOMIC: A variation of I AM ATOMIC, which is an esoteric technique designed to annihilate everything within a small range in all directions. I AM ATOMIC Recovery: A variation of I AM ATOMIC, which heals everyone he chooses within his range. I AM ATOMIC Atomic Sword: A variation of I AM ATOMIC, in which light gathers around his sword's tip, and extends, stretching across the ground, all the way to the horizon. Cid then cleaves everything in its path in two.

Notable Matchups

Victories:

• Uno (Ejen Ali) Uno's Profile (Uno second key, 7-C version was used. Speed was equalized)

Losses:

Inconclusive:

Discussions

Discussion threads involving Cid Kagenou