The carriage was driving through the Wrath district while Mordred was staring out the window. He saw all the stores with their customers and the demons walking about.
The scene was familiar to him since he was constantly visiting the Demon Emperor's castle either to entertain Kali or to bring her back after entertaining her all day.
Mordred was on his way to get imperial tutoring which was required for all SS rank Demons to attend together. For some reason, all SS ranks would be born within half a year of the first one and no more would appear for another 500 years.
They were given this special privilege to ensure that the demons with the most potential did not waste their time or with studying the basics in school when they turned 13.
Mordred made his way through both districts and soon arrived at the castle. When he arrived, he saw two other carriages leaving.
'It seems like I will not be the first to arrive.'
Mordred's carriage parked itself long enough for Mordred to disembark and make his way inside the castle.
'This place is as imposing as always but it looks outdated. When was the last time this place got a renovation?'
A maid greeted Mordred as soon as he entered before leading him to the imperial study room. Since there were only 9 of them, the tutoring was held in the imperial study room.
When Mordred arrived, he saw that there were already 8 people there. Everyone turned to look at him. One was an adult demon who was obviously the teacher while the other 7 were the other children.
One familiar child waved at him with excitement but Mordred decided to ignore them.
'Looks like I'm second to last then.'
Mordred decided to ignore the gazes before walking to and sitting down in one of the two free desks in the middle of the room. Mordred decided to flip through the books on the desk to see what they would have to learn about.
The books seemed as if they would cover magic, creatures, and classes.
'Everything I expected to be taught.'
When the teacher saw Mordred was one of the only two to look through the books, a light flashed through his eyes but he did not say anything.
Within a few minutes, the last member of the 9 SS rank children arrived. They also took their seat without saying any words to anyone. The teacher did not seem upset by the lack of responses.
'All these kids have been made prideful by their parents and it will take time to acknowledge each other. But that is fine. We can work on that over the next few years.'
The teacher clapped their hands to gather the attention of the kids.
"Hello everyone. My name is Belial. I will be your tutor for the next 5 years so let's get along. I know that most of you are curious so we will each introduce ourselves with our names, species, our likes, our dislikes, and the position you hope to gain in the future.
I will go first. My name is Belial, I am a vampire, I enjoy the blood of elves especially wood elves, I dislike the blood of undead creatures, and I am already in my top position for my rank.
We will start at the front left and go from left to right. So you begin."
Belial pointed at a little girl sitting at the front. She looked like a normal human with purple hair except for the facial and hand tattoos the girl had which showed that she was a member of the witches. The jewel in her forehead and her being in the room with everyone else also told everyone that she was part of the True Witches.
The girl stood before introducing herself, "Hello. My name is Persephone, I am a True Witch, I enjoy herbology and alchemy as well as cats, I dislike idiots, I plan to take over the position of Demon Lord of Lust after my mother."
Persephone sat back down in her seat immediately after she spoke up. Belial nodded before turning to the boy next to her. This kid was had red skin with black lines all over it, horns, and an arrow-shaped tail coming out from underneath his clothes.
"Supay, Archdevil. I enjoy training, I hate wasting my time which I feel like this is. I plan to defeat and take over the spot for the Demon Lord of Wrath of the current one."
As he finished saying his words, he turned to glare at Mordred as if to challenge him. Mordred kept his face devoid of emotions and did not respond to the provocation.
The next child stood up without needing prompting. This was a normal looking girl with pale skin and long black hair. When she opened her mouth, you could see 4 sharp fangs within it that especially stood out.
"Hello everyone. I'm Bast. I am an Elder Vampire been though I am only 8. I enjoy the blood of flame element creatures and fencing, I dislike those who are two-faced. I plan on taking over the position as the Demon Lord of Greed in the future."
Bast was the most friendly out of everyone so far. Belial smiled but did not comment like before. The next to go was a girl who looked very similar to Kali except she had silver hair and eyes while her horns were gold.
"Hello everyone. I am princess Satana. I am the 2nd princess of Hel. I am a False Dragon like my sister and father. I enjoy the thought of ruling over everyone and making them bow down beneath my feet. I also enjoy seeing people suffer. I do not enjoy anyone standing in my way. I will become the Demon Empress in the future."
Satana spoke all of her words with a small, innocent smile on her face as if she was simply talking about the weather. While it was not unusual for demons to act like this, it was still creepy for Belial to see her smile like that. The other children did not seem to mind though.
'All of these children are weirdos like their parents. I wonder if this is simply a requirement to be an SS rank and not a trait that they gain from their arrogance and upbringing.'
He decided to look into that later to see if his theory was correct. The next to stand up was a person with black skin that had red lines along his body with grey horns.
"I'm Nija and I'm an archdevil. I enjoy hunting with my family while I dislike vegetables. I plan on taking on the position of Envy from my father."
Kali did not even wait for Belial to call on her before she stood up to introduce herself.
"I am the FIRST princess, Kali. I am a False Dragon. I enjoy my freedom and playing around. I dislike arrogant people who try to take what is mine. I shall be the Demon Empress in the future after snatching it from my father. The one who shall go next is my cousin Mordred."
Mordred sighed as he stood up. Since Kali already gave him a small introduction, he did not want to do it any longer.
"Mordred. Oni. Reading and Napping. Pointless things. Don't care. I'll take whatever is leftover."
Following him up was another Oni except this boy had red skin instead of Mordred's blue. His eyes showed the wild nature that the boy had.
"My name is Hades! I am an Oni like Mordred before me except I am a red one. I like to fight strong people. I dislike fighting weaklings. I plan to take the position as the Demon Lord of Gluttony."
The last girl stood up and gave a slight bow before introducing herself. She had pale skin just like Bast.
"Hello, my name is Mania. I am an Elder Vampire. I enjoy the blood of beings related to wolves but dislike the blood of humans, too dirty. I plan to take over the position of the Demon Lord of Pride."
And this was the first meeting of what would be called the 'Nine Circles' in the future.