Gryphons.

He can't believe a mere research paper but also can't turn blind eye to them. He had only one choice and that is to test things out on his own or confront someone who has more solid answers.

"I think I don't have any dark desires, but I should refrain from using it frequently," Harry thought.

Harry shifted his attention to the other two books. There were detailed notes, possibly written by the leader, so he started going through them and practicing.

The Soul Eater skill was easy to learn, but he found out a downside of it. The user would suffer the pain that the person endured while dying.

Sometimes, a skill user could lose their mind if the soul's owner had suffered intense pain for days before dying.

"It seems I should be careful using this skill," Harry thought while practicing Shadow technique.

Shadow was more complicated because he had to hide every bit of soul energy in his punch. If he failed to conceal the soul energy while punching, the opponent could defend against it.

He practiced for two hours straight but was only successful in hiding a tiny amount of energy. At this rate, it would take years to learn even the basic level of Shadow Punch.

If he could hide the soul energy to some extent, it would be undetectable until the opponent came closer. By then, it would be too late for most to defend, but not for experts.

For experts, a millisecond was more than enough to react. But what choice he had? So he continued to practice.

Early in the morning, when Harry and his friends arrived at the designated place, they saw a Gryphon. These majestic creatures, part eagle and part lion, are known for their strength and ability to soar through the skies.

Harry and his friends' eyes shone like jewels. "Are we going to ride it?" Meru asked, astonished.

"Haha, the Philosopher's Academy is so wealthy that they can arrange a Gryphon for transport," Liam exclaimed.

"You all are here. Come and sit; we will take off," Aiden shouted, standing high on the Gryphon.

There was a room-like structure on the back of the lion-eagle beast.

"Inspect."

[Gryphon: Spiritual Sage Level 1, Wind Element, Master in Flight]

Harry gulped when he inspected it. It was his first time seeing a creature of a Spiritual Sage level. He was thrilled because his system showed the element it possessed.

If this beast is a Spiritual Sage, then what could Aiden's level be? Spiritual Sage experts could fly, but their speed and stamina are far lower compared to creatures that focus on flight abilities.

He entered the building. There were four rooms connected to each other with a garden-like core area.

The area shook for a second and then stabilized no different than being on the ground, but in reality, they were flying.

Harry could see birds flying outside the windows. A man was sitting outside, controlling their mount.

"He has a taming skill," Aiden said, noticing Harry's curious gazes.

Harry nodded but wanted to try something. So he said "inspect" in his mind.

[Spiritual Sage Level 3]

That was it. There was nothing more about that man.

"What element does he have?" Harry asked Aiden.

"People usually try to keep their element hidden, but they can't survive without using it. That's why we can often guess what type of element they have but can't determine it exactly.

In the case of beast tamers, they typically have mind-related psychic affinities. They can somehow talk to beasts and make contracts with them.

Tamers provide many resources to make contracts. If the tamers don't keep their promises, the beasts flee. There are also cases where, if the beast is more powerful than the owner, it attacks the owner for not keeping it satisfied," Aiden explained.

After a pause, he continued, "There are also other elements that could make beasts submit, like binding elements."

Listening to all of this Harry compared his soul contract with these other elements.

'My soul contract is on another level, but with reasonable consequences.

I can make a contract with beasts far more powerful than me, and if any of us don't fulfill our conditions, our lives will be in each other's hands,' Harry thought, a chill running through his body. What if he someday makes a contract and fails to complete the conditions?

"What element do you have?" Harry didn't dare to inspect Aiden, so he politely asked. But his politeness didn't succeed in melting Aiden's heart.

Aiden smiled at Harry's question and said, "You should rest, it will take some time for us to reach the academy."

Harry smiled bitterly and went to a room with his friends.

On the way, they picked up students from various cities. There were at most two students from each city. They skipped many cities and didn't pick any students. Harry didn't know if other instructors took them or if no one passed the exam.

They traveled for three days, picking students from several cities. Now there were 20 students mounted on the beast, including Harry.

With the speed the beast was traveling, Harry could tell they had already traveled several thousand kilometers.

He was confused because, according to what he knew, the earth shouldn't be this big. The only explanation was that the domain was far larger than he had anticipated.

And things that has been tempered with are far much that he can guess.

Along the way, Harry tried to practice his soul cultivation, and with the help of books and notes, he reached soul cultivation level 4.

He also tried to understand the soul refinement technique, but it was a slow process. He could feel his energy condensing slowly.

It was full of trials, that can only be triggered when ascending to the next realm.

When he used the black sword, he felt as if the sword was trying to push his cultivation, as if telling him that the user was not eligible to use it.