When Alex awoke the next morning, he experienced his first ever hangover in this world. He recalled getting along with Surtr well, and the two started drinking together, but then after several drinks he finally blacked out. Alex looked around to find he was on the couch instead of his bed, and with a horrible headache, went to go get some water from the kitchen. There he found Rias with Macgregor and Surtr, as well as the rest of the dorm residents.
"Well good morning." Rias said with an smirk at how he was feeling.
"Morning..." Alex replied noncommittally, as he started going through the cupboards for a cup. The rest of the girls started snickering at how Alex looked at the moment, as it was rare for them to see him so affected by something. After he got some water, Surtr started laughing and said,
"HAHA, I wasn't sure at first, but you sure can drink young master, even for a high schooler!" Even though he was quieter than usual, Alex still felt as if he was shouting in his ears. He mentally swore to get a power that would let him not get drunk, or at least a hangover, in the future. He soon dismissed himself to go shower to get rid of the alcohol smell, and was joined happily by Asia and Xenovia.
Nearly an hour later, he reemerged a new man. Alex was feeling a lot better, and Asia and Xenovia returned with him, practically glowing for different reasons. The two members of Sirzechs peerage coughed awkwardly, and Surtr said,
"So young master, I hear you're quite proud of your strength." At his words Alex smiled, but Rias and Macgregor looked as if the apocalypse was about to happen. Alex remembered Rias's warning from the day before, but when Surtr brought it up himself, he was unable to resist.
"You're damn straight I am!" Surtr laughed with a twinkle in his eyes, and asked,
"How about a competition then?" Alex's smile widened, but he decided to listen to Rias's warning, to an extent.
"You're on, but it has to be small. How about arm wrestling?" Surtr laughed at Alex's suggestion, and answered,
"Of course we have to keep it mild, if not then old Macgregor would tell on me to big sis!" Alex smirked when he heard that, and a certain silver haired maid came to mind when he heard 'big sis'.
Though they were glad there wasn't going to be a real fight, Rias and Macgregor were still worried, and moved everyone to the Gremory training area.
In the underground space, Macgregor had summoned a sturdy table, and everyone was getting ready to watch the match. Alex was on one side of the table and Surtr was on the other, staring each other down with grins a mile wide on both of their faces. They both placed their right arms on the table, and grabbed each other's hand. Rias was not too far away with a small flag,
"Ready, set, GO!"
Immediately a crater formed from the opposing auras, and cracks tarted spreading as they increased their strength. It was like that the two started their match of strength. Alex was being pushed back slowly by Surtr, before he started pushing Surtr back gradually. Surtr then started evening things out, and they got stuck in the middle, trying to beat the other. Surtr grinned despite the obvious strain, and said,
"I'll not lie young master, you've definitely got strength!" Alex grinned right back, before replying,
"You as well Surtr, the only other person to match me in strength recently, was Crom Cruach!" The two continued like this, the cracks from their pressure spider webbing out even more as time went on. Alex and Surtr both turning red, as they strained to oppress the other.
If Alex wanted to, he could have easily overwhelmed Surtr with his super saiyan, draconian form, or even his newly upgraded gravity manipulation. However what was the point of using those? What fun would there be in matches like these if he decided to take the route of easily overwhelming all of his opponents with abilities they didn't have? Alex did doubt for a second that Surtr had similar abilities that would increase his strength, but he knew he had the same thought and didn't use them. This was purely a match of raw strength, no abilities, and they both loved it. At least until,
"What exactly is going on here?" A cold female voice filled the space. Macgregor paled instantly, and Surtr faltered for a second, before Alex slammed his hand through the table, and into the ground below them. Surtr had obviously lost, but he didn't care about that when he looked at the owner of the voice a second ago.
Standing there, behind everyone witnessing the match, was the same silver haired maid Surtr and Macgregor feared so much. Grayfia stood there calmly, but had a sharp look in her eye as she looked at the three perpetrators in front of her. Her eyes focused on Macgregor, Surtr, and then finally Alex himself. The first two instantly went into a sieza position in front of her, while Alex was looking back calmly. Everyone gulped as they saw him defy her, and Grayfia's glare intensified, before Alex slowly started walking to the side of the the two. He then slowly got into a sieza next to them, then looked back at Grayfia without even a hint of nervousness. Seeing him finally in position, she turned to the other two first, and said,
"First of all, I would like to ask why it is two members of the lucifer group decided to make the trip to the human world together, then freeload for the night at the current home of the Gremory heiress." The two gulped, and Surtr said,
"Big sis, it's like this, I wanted to give the young master a present for the holidays. But I figured it wouldn't be very appropriate to interrupt his and the princess's holiday together, so I made a trip in advance." Macgregor nodded and said,
"And you know sis how this guy causes trouble, so I accompanied him to ensure he design start anything troublesome while here." Surtr glared at him, but Macgregor acted as if he couldn't see it. Grayfia nodded in contemplation, before saying,
"If you simply wished to deliver a present Surtr, then why did you need to invade the lady's home for the entire night?" At this Surtr started sweating, and knowing Macgregor would rat on him if he lied, said,
"Well, the toung master and I got talking, then we got drinking. By the time I noticed how late it was, the princes offered us a room for the night." Grayfia's glare intensified even more, and she asked,
"So you happily handed alcohol to someone who is merely in highschool?" At her words Surtr gave up trying to explain, and simply waited for his punishment when he returned to the underworld. She then turned to Macgregor, and said,
"And you Macgregor, you stated that you came to prevent him from causing trouble, yet let him give a minor alcohol, then you stood back as the current situation happened?" As the words fell Macgregor didn't say anything, and simply hung his head, and waited like Surtr for his lecture upon returning. She then turned to Alex.
"And you, are to be the husband of the next head of Gremory, not a drunkard who is a worthless muscle head!" Her words grew with intensity with each one, before Grayfia was nearly shouting at the end. As they saw that, Rias, Surtr, and Macgregor all turned deathly pale, and Rias was secretly worried that she would become a widow before she was even married. Alex however, was completely calm before her, which secretly unnerved Grayfia. Though she didn't consider herself some kind of tyrant, it was unnerving to see someone not buckle under her reprimands, as even Satan himself wouldn't properly raise his head in front of her lectures. Alex calmly replied,
"I don't see how drinking for one night makes me a drunkard, but if I do develop the habit then I'll accept a lecture to put me straight. And to the claims of me being a muscle head, I won't deny the thrill of a good challenge, but we did downgrade our competition to merely arm wrestling instead of a full on fight." As he looked her in the eye, and talked back with composure, everyone present reacted as if a legendary battle was about to take place. Surtr and Macgregor started talking bets, and Akeno and Koneko lamented the lack of popcorn, as Alex and Grayfia stared each other down.