Chapter 18: Sakura: It Grew So Suddenly! How Cute!

Tomoyo finally witnessed the scene of Sakura in action, just as Ye Hui and Kero had described. She remembered Ye Hui mentioning that Sakura still needed a Clow Card to use magic. At that moment, Kero silently pulled the Wind card from his bag.

Tomoyo asked with great enthusiasm, "So, Sakura, have you designed any specific poses?"

Sakura: "(°ー°〃) Poses? Why would I need to design..."

Tomoyo clasped her hands together, exclaiming excitedly, "Because poses and incantations are the trademarks of a magical girl!"

Here it was! The part of a hero's story that is so often left out of the final cut! Ye Hui had leaned in precisely because he was worried about missing this. In his previous life, this episode had been deleted by television stations because the Shadow card manifested as shadows around the school, resembling a horror story. As a result, many people missed the scene where Sakura and Tomoyo designed how a magical girl should make her entrance. Watching it again as an adult, the feeling was different, and the episode became a regret for many viewers.

Whenever Ye Hui watched superhero movies or TV shows, they almost always omitted the scenes where the protagonist practices their entrance poses. How could he possibly miss the chance to witness it in person? That was absolutely out of the question! Seeing Sakura waver, he quickly stoked the fire.

"Sigh, you girls rarely watch battle manga. Actually, whether it's a mage or a warrior, as long as they are the protagonist, they can't do without a cool entrance pose..."

Tomoyo added, "And the classic moves during battle, too!"

Sakura was bewildered. Listening to the two of them chattering away, her eyes started spinning like mosquito coils. "R-really?"

Ye Hui nodded and continued to bluff, "Of course it's true! I didn't think you read manga too, Tomoyo. I thought I was the only one who knew about this..."

Tomoyo covered her mouth and giggled, "Occasionally, I read it occasionally!" In truth, she only ever looked at the costumes of the characters in anime and manga. That’s right—Tomoyo had a little hobby: she loved designing all kinds of outfits!

After a pause, Sakura looked at Kero suspiciously. Do mages really need to design moves? Is that a thing? Kero was the one who introduced her to the profession of being a Clow Card captor. When it came to this job, Kero should be the authority. But she didn't know that Kero had only been bluffing her into becoming a card captor. Even her "career mentor" was only acting on the fly. How could he possibly know if such rules existed? However, it did seem that when Clow Reed cast magic, he would raise his staff just like that.

"It seems to make sense..." Kero nodded quickly. He was afraid of being exposed for not knowing the hidden rules of magical girl combat. Seeing that even Kero agreed, Sakura could only nod blankly. She felt a bit lost.

She hadn't heard any of this from Kero before! She had already fought the Fly card under his guidance once, and Kero hadn't taught her to strike any classic poses back then! This was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing. Sakura looked at Ye Hui, the cultivator, and then at Kero, the magical guardian. Both of these "experts" in her eyes had unexpectedly agreed with her friend Tomoyo's claim. Was she really that ignorant?

Tomoyo leaned forward, hands clasped, eyes shining. "Try it, Sakura! It's just a test, anyway!"

"Eh? Well... well, okay then."

With three pairs of eyes staring at her, she figured that since her good friends were so interested, she might as well go all out! Sakura was down-to-earth and didn't have much of a devious bone in her body. Since everyone said so, she really did start working on different battle poses under the guidance of Tomoyo and Ye Hui.

Ye Hui knew from the anime that the poses Sakura used in battle were indeed perfected during this quiet lunch hour with Tomoyo's help.

"Eh? Is this move okay too?"
"Sakura can definitely do it, right?"
"Ah, so embarrassing!"
"Try this move, I just thought of another one..."

Tomoyo and Ye Hui kept coming up with new ideas. Kero would occasionally offer his own suggestions as well. Following their designs, Sakura kept trying out different entrance and battle poses. Because of Ye Hui's interference, the poses gradually became quite "chuunibyou" (delusional)...

Although Sakura felt embarrassed, Tomoyo was thrilled, her cheeks flushed with excitement. Of course, Ye Hui didn't forget to film it all. He had set up a camera nearby, and thanks to a custom-made battery, it would last for a long time.

"I don't think the poses need to be this complicated..." Sakura said, feeling dizzy as she let the three of them push her around. Fortunately, she liked sports, so she could pull off many of the more difficult poses! While she was posing, Ye Hui noticed that Sakura's face was even redder than Tomoyo's. He guessed that even for Sakura, practicing so many poses would leave her breathless. Being tired was perfectly normal.

In the end, Sakura's entrance repertoire included not only the classic moves from the show but also several new ones. The classics were hard to resist! Ye Hui also reaped the reward of the "embarrassing" footage of Sakura. These were the behind-the-scenes moments that heroes in superhero movies only dared to practice in private at home—if they were exposed in the main feature, it would ruin their cool factor.

After finishing the design for Sakura's transformation poses, Tomoyo tilted her head and looked at Ye Hui. "Ye Hui has been practicing cultivation for a long time, so you must have designed your own battle poses, right? Can we see them?"

Ye Hui, the pervert who was secretly excited about the content he was recording, was suddenly caught off guard by the question. "What, me?" No, how did this involve him?

Sakura opened her eyes wide, filled with curiosity. "Eh? Does Ye Hui have those poses too?"

"Ahahaha, that won't be necessary. The past is gone, and I am like a newborn now. Once I master the Sword-Flying Technique and can travel through the air on my sword, I'll show you then..."

"Flying sword?!" the three exclaimed in unison.

"That's right! A flying sword!" Ye Hui successfully changed the subject, then reached out. A small, cyan-colored miniature sword appeared on the grass.

Tomoyo: "How cute!"
Sakura: "Is this a flying sword?"
Kero: "Isn't that just a sword used by Chinese Taoists? Though it looks a bit different..."

Ye Hui spread his hands. "I can't help it! I haven't learned to fly on it yet. This sword can only shrink and grow when I channel spiritual energy into it. If I use other spells, it can also assist in casting, just like a Chinese Taoist's sword."

Kero circled around the mini sword, looking at it from all angles. "This 'Sword-Flying' you talk about—is it like Sakura, riding on it to fly in the sky?"

Tomoyo tilted her head. "Riding it? Won't that way of flying tear your clothes?"

Ye Hui immediately imagined that scene and broke out in a cold sweat. "No... not riding... you stand on it!" Which guy would dare to straddle a flying sword? It’s not a broomstick! The thought of it alone was painful!

Sakura looked at the flying sword, thoughtful. "It looks just like the sealing key, being able to grow and shrink. I wonder what it looks like when it gets big..."

Ye Hui blinked. "Actually, a cultivator's spells are quite plain. They usually don't have the flashy special effects that mages have!" Especially low-level cultivators...

Under the gaze of three pairs of eyes, Ye Hui channeled a faint amount of spiritual energy into the sword. The finger-thick, cyan miniature sword began to grow! Cold, metallic light shimmered along the blade, looking sharp enough to cut through anything...

Ye Hui stopped. "It can keep growing, but I've run out of spiritual energy..."

"So amazing!" Tomoyo and Sakura gasped. Kero flapped his wings, trying to open his bean-shaped eyes wide. "Strange, I didn't feel any magic power at all! Why did it actually grow? Is a cultivator's power really that magical?" This scene exceeded his understanding.

Ye Hui smiled. "Keep it low-key, keep it low-key. Cultivation is just that simple and unadorned~"

As for what spiritual energy actually was, he wasn't even sure himself. After all, the system was always getting things mixed up.