A few days passed after Alex's victory against Eri, but she still couldn't digest how fast she lost, so she began to pout whenever she saw Alex. Alex was not in the mood to entertain; he needed to hurry up; time is an essence, he must ascend quickly, going to the upper floors where many rewards await him. He also must try to reach the Demi-God level or at least get close to that level, and once he went back, he would find a way to help Elseria, no Typhania, to regain her former power.
While Alex was lost in thoughts about his future, there was a soft knock on the door, and even without checking, Alex immediately knew who it was.
''Noire, come in,'' Alex said, and immediately his contracted pet walked in; Alex had changed her name from Ferīr to Noire; he felt like this name sounded better than the previous one, and Noire also seemed to like it.
''Greeting master.'' Noire curtsied elegantly after she walked in. Alex nodded and asked what had brought her here.
''So why are you here?"
''I'm here to give you what you asked me to do.''
Alex's eyes lighted when he heard those words, finally what he had been waiting for arrived, he immediately snatched the black parchment Noire presented to him, he quickly perused through the content and nodded pleased with himself, the content of the contract was pretty simple, it stated the agreement between two people namely Alexander Kael Touch and Eri Spencer. Because of the result of a bet, Eri would in the future work for Alex until she won against him in a practically impossible fight. Alex did not add this clause; at first, he thought he would make Eri work for him for ten years, but maybe because of how easily she lost, Eri added this clause as she believed that she would one day surpass Alex.
Alex happily accepted such a lifetime offer; Eri is talented, strong, and would continue to grow stronger in the future, so naturally, having someone like her in his team was not a bad thing; it was like collecting some of the rarest Pokemon.
''Go call Eri over,'' Alex ordered without lifting his eyes from the contract, almost as if he was afraid that the moment he did that, it would vanish.
Noire said nothing even when she found her master behavior odd; it was not her place to the point that out. She disappeared into the void, and when she reappeared, she was without Eri, who still wore the shocked expression; no matter how many times she experienced it, she could never get used to it. It was like teleportation but different; she was curious about how Noire's ability works but stopped asking as in the past she failed to get any information from the wolf girl.
''So why do you bring me here? I was in the middle of a sweet dream, and you have to ruin it; shame on you.'' Eri glared at Alex while she said those words, but Alex ignored her; he was used to her behavior; he knew she would never stop there, she would brag about what kind of sweet dream she was having, and the content never changed.
''Fufufu! I dreamed that I beat your sorry ass into a bloody pulp. You were lying under my feet begging for forgiveness as I violently trampled on you. Fufufu! You even cu-"
Before Eri could tell them her sick fantasy any further, Alex tossed the black contract at her; she caught it between her fingers before reading it.
Satisfied with the content, Eri put her hands around her hips and laughed like a third-rate movie villain.
''Kukukuku! Fine as you desire to be trampled, I shall sign this contract; you should feel honored. Kukukuku! I can't wait to have me under me.''
Alex shivered when he heard those words.
''Yeah, yeah, keep dreaming,'' Alex muttered, tired of talking with a girl who sometimes appeared like she had some screw loose. Sometimes she would act so friendly that outsiders would think the two were long-time friends, while sometimes, she would act so coldly like that you would think that she was on period.
The reason for Eri's unusual behavior was because she got a social anxiety disorder (Isolation and complex social relationships.), it was hard to get friendly with others; even in her new world, she was pretty much isolated not because people wouldn't talk to her but because she would interact with them with reservation. When she was on Earth all kinds of people would approach her trying to befriend her, at first she thought it was because she was popular, someone everyone one wanted to be friend with but her world crumbled soon after she learned that every one of them was here because of ulterior motive, they wanted to befriend her to get on her father's good side, he was extremely rich possessing much connection across the states. Even her rich friends were no exception; they wanted to expand their father, their mother, or family members' business through her.
Eri lost faith in humans since that day; she became isolated; it was then she encountered them, the ice queen, sole daughter of the most feared mafia boss in the surrounding states. At first, Eri thought like others, Maria, Luna, or Sakuya would approach her like them. Still, soon she found out that they were different, except for Luna, who was naturally someone nice, Sakuya simply doesn't care about others except her friends as for Maria she acted as though talking to Eri or getting closer to her was a waste of her time, she completely ignored.
For the first time in a long time, Eri felt an unknown emotion that maybe with these people she would be able to make friends, things worked out with Luna, Sakuya to some extent; however, her relationship with Maria never changed; she never properly look at her even after a year as if she doesn't even exist, this made Eri angry, she wanted Maria's recognition at all cost but failed many times until their relationship evolved into what it is today.
Eri preferred a man like Alex who immediately told you they wanted to use you instead of playing nice to use you slowly; it was for this reason Eri began acting strangely around Alex, it was her way of telling him that she had accepted him not romantically but as friends, something Alex could come to learn in the future.