Hovering at the end of his pinky finger, a ball of spiraling qi glowed with such concentration it appeared as a star. Lex controlled the qi masterfully; the circumference was smaller than the eye of a needle and spinning at incredible speeds. Of course, the smaller the spiraling ball, the more powerful, but just creating a spiraling ball was not the point; Lex turned to the second exercise. His teeth ground together at the exercise; the practice was more trying than the one before. He'd tried it nine times.

He focused on his target, the stone of the peach, which is less than 5 m away. All he had to do was strike it with the spiraling ball. That's what made this exercise so trying for him. Lex couldn't control his qi further than a meter from his body. Worse, he couldn't maintain the spiraling qi even a centimeter beyond his skin. So, he had to find another way to complete the exercise. Lex had an idea.

While he waited for Jean and Morgan to find the secret exit from the hidden Dragon Institute's underground witch reserve, he decided to test his new idea. When the spiraling balls reached a certain point in their spiral, all movement equalized. For only a moment within the spiraling ball, there was an eye of calm. So, what would happen if he pushed that eye forward. What if he could change the shape of the spiral while pushing forward and using the eye of calm as a point?

Every time he tried, it blew up. The smaller the spiraling ball, the shorter its point of calm. So this time, he made it larger until the spiral's eyes matched the size of a needle's eye. When that didn't work, he expanded the qi ball to the size of his fist. The larger the spiraling ball, the longer its point of calm. Still, that point lasted for a 10th of the 10th of a second.

He pushed forward, adjusting the spiral aiming the point of calm for the peach's stone. Lex fed more power into the spiral; he linked his spiraling qi to the spiraling ball and pushed his hand into it. Just when Lex gloved his hand in the spiraling ball, he realized he'd made a horrible mistake. It was like sticking his hand into a meat grinder. If it was his qi or someone else's, once it started spinning, it didn't care; it became a destructive force. Still, he wanted to win; he tried to complete the exercise and pushed forward.

Lex's hand was awash with gold; his blood painted the blue spiral with gold flecks as the point of calm shot towards the stone. The further the spiral extended, the smaller the point of calm. Lex pushed hard; it shot forward like a lance spearing through the stone before the twisting qi shattered the rock. In moments, the spiraling qi dissipated. His left hand was in cut into ribbons, but he reveled in the feeling of success.

Already, his hard amber blood congealed and stopped the bleeding. He saw the bone in the many lacerations that lined his hand; they would heal. So long as he fed the hiding from tribulation technique, he'd heal eventually. He knew that his knowledge imparted with the technique in some way the only demons knew.

The second exercise had been more straightforward because he mastered the first. But he couldn't say he truly mastered the second exercise until he could pierce the stone the normal-sized spiraling sphere. Then, he'd have to work on it every day, hundreds of times a day, and put hundreds of hours into the practice. It was just like the first exercise except, he was starting further from his goal.

"We're back!" Jean yelled. The long girl had opened up. After a week of searching for the hole, Morgan, and Jean had become friends. However, Jean refused to take cursing him off the table. It was still nearly a month before the third match afterward; he could be sent out as an undead mercenary to fill in for peasant levies. Lex was sure she was more excited about cursing him than being back.

"Did you find it? Unfortunately, we don't have much time left." Lex said.

"Don't worry; I found the perfect curse just for you. Have you ever felt your blood boil? I can't wait to apply it." Jean's smile was disturbing.

Morgan grumbled. "I don't see why you have to apply it; I trust him. What if something happens and he can't make it in time? He could be our only way out." Morgan said.

Jean stole one of Lex's peaches from the fruit bowl. She took a long, savory bite; her cheeks reddened. "Well, that's too bad. I'm not letting him go without a little insurance. If you don't like that, then you can find a way out yourself. I'm sure you will find it in a few hundred years. Maybe, they'll make you a teacher instead of whatever they do to the rest of us." Jean said.

Lex shrugged and bumped into Morgan. She fell onto the bed. "Don't worry; I'll get back in time, I promise. But will the curse be removed just by my return, or can only you remove it?" Lex said.

Jean wiped the juices from her mouth with the back of her hand and then rubbed it on Lex's robe. "Don't worry, so long as you keep to your side of the deal, I'll remove it. You can trust me, can't you? I'm the one who knows the way out of here. You're the one who has to deal with the Inquisition, don't forget if you don't get strong enough, we might all die. Or you may get just strong enough to rescue Morgan. No, I don't want to be left holding the bag while the two of you get away. Who knows, maybe when they do whatever they do to us, that might be too busy to chase down one witch." Jean said.

He understood, she couldn't trust him or Morgan, especially not them together. It was brilliant on her part, but he had to wonder, could her curse do anything to him. He was a breach and enhancement type according to the Invictus standard. Morgan had to struggle to well the link to him; even more, he had to allow it. What would happen if he rejected her curse when she applied it?

Morgan reached out and pulled her into bed. "Now, why would I forget about you. I thought we were friends. We're getting out of here, you, me, and anyone else we can trust. I think you know what they do; I think you know why we can't say it aloud." Morgan said, squishing her breasts against Jean, proving them to be more than just friends. They slept in the same bed most nights, leaving Lex on the floor drifting in and out of his 10 to 15 minutes before he went back to studying.

His nights were full of jealousy, study, and practice. In the following week, Lex's qi control had grown. Some nights Marie appeared, and they had a pleasant conversation.

It would happen soon; he'd leave, and the hunt would begin. Lex had a choice, either escape or face what was bound to happen, what they knew would happen. Few teachers are witches, and none from the same graduating class. He dared not say it aloud; things said aloud had a habit of attracting the wrong kind of attention. So, he buried his jealousy deep down; he studied necromancy, spiral theory, and the Tang standard and practiced for the day of escape.

There was no friendly moon to guide them as they left that night, only the glowing crimson star above guided their way. It was always lighting their way, staring down them like some unblinking eternal God. There was no day or night in the underground, only numbers, the gears of a clock, and bell tolls. So they traveled until even the red light above dimmed. Then, when the darkness surrounded them, they found a crack in the earth.

Jean grinned maliciously; she was like a cat who found a mouse. She wasn't going to eat it, not while she could play with his life. So when instead of using some spells to wrap a curse around him, she pulled out a necklace; he was confused. Then he remembered, her power was in bonding spirits to create enchanted items.

"No! You promise to curse him. You even picked out a blood-boiling curse." Morgan said.

Jean frowned. "Hey, I'm terrible at applying curses. I need a medium; we aren't all be perfect witches like you, some of us minor in necromancy. We can't all be from Morgana's bloodline." Jean said.

Morgan turned red. "That was said in good faith. Why would you tell Lex that what will he think of me knowing that she's my grandmother?" Morgan said.

"He's just a man; I doubt he cares who your grandmother was or is. It didn't save you." Jean turned to Lex. "You care who her grandmother is? Do you know what she did how many Knights she's killed? Or do you only care about what's between her legs?" Jean said.

Lex was tired; he was tired of Jean's nonsense, the place she stole in Morgan's bed, and he was sick of her attitude. Sure, she was their ally for now. But even his tolerance had a limit. There is a very convenient hole right beside him. How long would it take to find her body? This place was supposed to be hard to find so, who would know. It would be so easy.

Those weren't just his thoughts; Morgan shared them. She felt scandalized by the secrets Jean revealed; those secrets were told in good faith. It was something like a ritual to Morgan a show trust, a test, and Jean had failed.

Morgan was furious; Black Fly's buzzed its wings thoroughly got dust all around them. But before she could make a move, Lex latched it around Jean's neck. Jean's smile of triumph lasted until the binding locked into place. "You've proven you can't be trusted, so it's only fair that Morgan places you under a curse." Jeans eyes widened.

"You can't do that to me. Someone will know, we're all witches here, and the teachers they'll get the truth out of me." Jean said.

Lex noticed something; she wasn't deactivating the collar. That told him everything he needed to know about Jean, about any deals he made with her, and possibly about the exit. Everything she's ever said was now in doubt. They couldn't trust her. Lex tapped her collar, and she shrieked and retreated. Oh, the collar is set to activate if it was forcibly removed. That was standard, but he was sure there was no command word to release it. It was a slave collar, something made to threaten him forever no matter how powerful he became; he would always be vulnerable to a witch's curse. If a curse activated early in cultivation, it can't bypass it. Timed curses were reviled, but triggered curses were heretical. Any witch capable of using a triggered curse would be hunted to the ends of the earth.

"So, where does this hole lead?" Lex asked.