"Simonifirac, what in Sata's name were you doing last night?" This is what Simon was greeted by when he woke up.
"Errrgghhh..."
'What happened? I blacked out after the breakthrough- succeeded?'
"Simonifirac, no need to get up just yet. I will have a servant bring a mirror."
"Diana! Please bring me a mirror!" Karlus shouted through the door.
"Yes sir."
Karlus looked back to his injured son, sighing as he gave a subtle smirk.
"You broke through to 4th rank right? I have to admit that this is a very positive piece of news for our house. But that isn't the most important thing to note, so I asked Diana to fetch a mirror. This is because, there was another change."
"I have the mirror, sir." Diana announced as she entered through the door.
"Great, now place it in front of Simonifirac's bed."
As soon as Simon could see his reflection, he noticed something oddly different.
"Grey horns?"
"Yes, you have obtained grey horns by whatever means. This is indeed a very unexplainable occasion, usually one can only obtain grey horns after going through the Adulthood Ceremony and becoming a grey horn devil within the next half a decade or so. but you somehow managed to skip that."
"It is impossible without the... Simonifirac, have you already lost your purity?" Karlus stopped and asked.
"Of course not, father. I am not some weak youth that gives into his lusts." Simon confidently replied.
"Nevermind then... my son, do you know why my horns are purple? Of course not, that knowledge isnt sparingly given out before a devil reaches their first ascension... Well it seems you are ready."
Of course Simon knew about what horns meant to devils, but he didn't quite understand how he had obtained grey horns. Even with the revisions, creating a formula for a horn ascension would take years.
"My horns are of the 5th tier, meaning that I am eligible for the title of 'Exalted'." Karlus said as he pointed to his pink horns.
"The tiers go from white, grey, blue, purple, pink, red, and finally; black. As you can now see, you are now of the second tier. Also, in the same order, the titles are null, Aspiring, Tested, Honoured, Exalted, Lord, and Sovereign."
"Each title comes with a tier in nobility. I myself have only reached the 5th tier of nobility, being a Maquell."
"As for the tiers of nobility, there are commoners, knights, Baresses, viclars, clars, Maquells, Divas, and Monarchs."
"listen closely, from now on, as a member of the noble caste, you will exclusively refer to a devil of a higher rank by their title, not rank. If you have a higher rank, you refer to a devil by their nobility tier."
Simon nodded as Karlus continued his explanation of horns and such. Of course Simon already knew about this information, but it would hurt to pretend that this was some awe-inspiring news. afterall, simon wasn't supposed to know as of yet.
"I fully understand, father." Simon responded as he tried to sit up from his bed.
"Good, now then. We will be painting those horns back to white. We do not need any trouble just yet, play the average child for now, and blow up to become the souring genius after the Adulthood Ceremony." Karlus spoke gently as he patted Simon on the head.
"Whatever the case, you are always the hardest working of my children, take pride in that. Your brother may have the talent, but you are the only one that has never given up my training regime!"
"Yes, father."
Afterwards, Karlus carefully used an expensive set of concealing paste to make it as if Simon only possessed fresh horns.
"All done, now go back to training! No breaks." This would be the last thing Karlus said to Simon for the rest of the day, as Simon really did go straight back to training, and didn't come out of the room until a week later.
As to what Simon was doing during the week? It's simple. Simon bolstered his foundations again, by training his body further and working himself to absorb more VP. As a result, Simon felt like calm and stable. After the breakthrough, Simon realised that future breakthroughs would be much harder, knowing this, he started to research on a different aspect of devildom.
'My horns can grant me more power, a breakthrough of the horns equals an increase of power by a factor of 2, when compared to a breakthrough of visualisation.'
'I only gained around tenfold power when I broke through to 4th rank, but my horns bolstered my strength to double that result.'
'Creating a formula may take a while, but I'm willing to see it through.'
KNOCK KNOCK
"Yes, what is it?" Simon asked through the door.
"Father has important news, please come to the courtyard, elder brother." Telestion announced through the door.
"Give me a moment to clean up this room. One should leave a place cleaner than when they arrived." Simon said in a scholarly voice.
"Be my guest, just please don't keep father waiting. I don't want to go through his training regime right now..."
'Pity, I was just about to start my thinking process. Sometimes being part of an engaging family is f***ing annoying, but it has benefits. For starters, I don't feel like an isolated piece of s**t.'
After a brief cleanup of his training room, Simon exited while stretching his body in a rushed manner.
'Ugghhh... I sat a bit too long after that session.'
Walking through the hallways of the mansion, Simon again revelled in the marvellous architecture of the architecture of the Crypt's household. If one stared long enough, they might get lost in the subtle colour changes and hidden meanings in each painting and sculpture.
But before he knew it, Simon had already arrived at the courtyard of the mansion. This time, the courtyard looked much more clean, as if it had just been repaired. Standing in the middle of the courtyard were his brothers and Karlus.
"Good, Simonifirac, stand with the group." Karlus instructed.
Simon immediately joined his brothers and waited for his father's words.
"Good, good... Well then, How should I put it?"
"Jazukal has received a meeting request from the house of Reaper, regarding their eldest daughter. I am proud to announce this! My son has caught the attention of a very promising lady, equal to or better than himself. Please congratulate your brother."
'Huh? An arranged marriage? Nah... that's not possible in the demon world. Things like choice? See how that goes when the Adulthood Ceremony comes around. This must be an attempt to make them have a higher affinity for each other, it certainly helps...'
'Hecate Reaper...'