The thing is, I think there is a... I don't even want to call it a different path.
Skill is magic, magic is skill.
DnD takes place in a world where you can survive being impaled because your soul burns too strongly to be snuffed out and your conviction is such that death will not take you this day. Wizardry is a learned skill, that leads to magic. I have no problem saying that feats of skill and strength are here.
Where my issue comes in at is that, at some point, you need to move beyond human limits. Which shouldn't be shocking, the vast majority of options are not human. I find it almost baffling that we keep trying to limit these non-human characters in a mythical world to what we could see a US Marine do. At some point. to me, a foe is strong enough that Earth Human limits do not apply... but fantasy humans burst past that limit. They are THAT skilled, THAT determined, THAT bad-ass that they can do the impossible.
But people can't just let them do that. They need explanations. They need reasons. They need us to explain how determination and willpower can change a person. So, I try and give that explanation. In part because I feel it does make sense, and it doesn't take away from those tropes.
I'm reminded of one of the most powerful people in the world of Primal Hunter. The Sword Saint is an old Japanese man, when the world was being rewritten, he was on his deathbed, but was given another chance. He is insanely strong, and can even alter his own personal time, gaining an ability that allows him to return to his youth. How does he do this? How did he get this ability? 1) By being really good with a sword and devoting himself to philosophy and swordsmanship. 2) By having experienced something profound during WWII. There is an entire chapter dedicated to his experience in the winter that nearly killed him, and that story and that personal realization of that moment, is what gave him his ability.
It is an ability, he has abilities, but they are rooted in his skills, his dedication to his arts and his philosophy, and his mindset. I truly do believe you could, in a fantasy world, become so good at swordsmanship as to cut time itself with your blade. It is only for those people who cry out about it being impossible for a physical object to damage a metaphysical concept that I point out the physics of a fantasy world allow for these things.