Holding the staff firmly in front of him, Travis saw everything moving in slow motion for a few seconds.

According to everything they have learned about the rune, its function was to absorb and store energy until the user needed it. At first glance, it didn't look like something you would use defensively, but as with everything in life, it depends on how you use it.

'Corruption is energy, right? Even if it is in the shape of a death laser ray.' Travis thought while sweat ran down his forehead.

A second later, the ray reached Travis' staff.

He activated the staff's rune using some of the corruption in the surroundings. The symbol began to gather all the nearby corruption, which happened to be a lot, as the turtle was shooting it at him.

As if it came to life, the staff shone with great intensity as the ray began to flow inside it. Before such a feat, Nathan and Marianne could only look at their companion, eyes wide open.

"Don't stay there doing nothing. Help me already!" Travis shouted to bring his companions back to reality.

Remembering their companion was risking his life at that moment, both cultivators moved to assist Travis.

Marianne used her earth-energy to create a stone wall in front of her companion. Even though the ray managed to go through it without much effort, it still managed to give Travis a few seconds to recover, and as Marianne continued rebuilding it each time the turtle destroyed it, it gave him a large margin to recover.

Nathan decided to go all out and used all the energy inside his dantian and staff to create a new energy spear. The shiny blue weapon flew directly to the beast's right front leg, and as it was focusing on attacking Travis, it couldn't defend itself from it.

The spear went through the leg, traversing it from one side to the other and causing the beast to lose balance. Because of this, it fell to one side, causing the ray's trajectory to change and end up aiming toward the sky.

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Just as it had happened, Travis pointed with his staff toward the sky and released a smaller version of the turtle's attack upwards. As he did this, cracks began to cover the staff's surface, and when the last energy drop left it, most of the staff turned into dust, leaving behind just the mana-steel rod.

Seeing the turtle on the ground while its shell still shone with intensity, the three cultivators turned toward it and attacked it with everything they had while avoiding entering the possible trajectory of its ray.

While Travis used his energy to try to burn the turtle's flesh, Nathan and Marianne used their staffs to gather energy and prepare for the last attack.

For the next few minutes, the three cultivators did their best to waste the most energy possible from the turtle's energy pool by forcing it to use its barrier to defend itself from their attacks.

With each attack, the shell's shine lost some intensity, and when they thought it wouldn't be able to resist their offensive, they cast the finishing blow.

The turtle had already hidden its head and limbs inside the shell, so they could only try to traverse it with their attacks to damage it.

Marianne and Travis positioned themselves each at one side of the beast, and using all the energy they had gathered inside their staffs, each created their spear.

Marianne's stone spear crashed into the turtle's shell after passing through the barrier, cracking it and creating a hole so they thought they could see the beast's flesh. Nathan's energy spear, on the other hand, used those cracks to stab the turtle on its body after traversing the barrier effortlessly.

After those two attacks, the beast released a pained cry as blood began to flow out of his wounds. For the next few seconds, it did its best to remain to stand, but soon after, its trembling legs gave up to its weight, making its body fall to the ground.

"We fucking did it!" Travis shouted as soon as he saw the turtle fall to the ground.

Without losing even a second, he placed the palm of his hand on the turtle's head and burned it to make sure it was dead.

"That was much more intense than I had expected," Nathan said, smiling while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"We sure did a great job here, and we still have a few hours to return to the academy," Marianne said as she looked at the sun, which was a little past midday.

"We did such a great job that I think we need a reward, don't you think?" Travis said as he neared the tree.

They had seen the turtle eating the purple fruit before its techniques gained a lot of strength, so they wanted to learn about it too.

Extending his hand toward one of the fruits, Travis didn't doubt grabbing one.

But as soon as he touched it, black light covered his arm to the elbow.