Promised (Reluctant) Victory In Remnant

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.

I'm also occasionally chilling in JaxWolf4's (Author of Nah, I'd Adapt and Zenin Days) Discord Server. It's a chaotic lobotomy mess. Not for the faint of heart.

Here's the link:

Disc: HrPrTeam

-Story Start-

Rising up, Alex's frown deepened.

His visit to Avalon; a tranquil paradise that knows no suffering - had made him ignore the afflictions forced upon him by the near month of struggling in Purgatory.

Exhaustion that a little nap could not wipe out.

A ceaseless hunger that Alex had reluctantly gotten used to, as death never came.

A much-needed quiet to ignore those miserable cries that replayed in Alex's psyche even now, who was far from hearing them again.

Even so, Avalon and Excalibur have left their mark on him.

With a tired exhale, Alex lifted his head and straightened his back observing his surroundings as he encouragingly mumbled, "Only eight hours left..." He recalled Merlin's words and trusted them.

With renewed clarity, Alex noted his surroundings.

But a sea of saplings in various stages of growth in a dry desert.

The smallest of saplings was a third of Alex's size, whilst the largest in his field of vision was roughly two stories tall.

This strange desert was illuminated by the ceaseless pillars of light piercing through the sky endlessly, it lacked the expected scorching heat of a normal desert.

However, it retained the quiet of one - much to Alex's relief.

Although a flat desert with no change in elevation whatsoever and rather bland in appearance, Alex would admit this scenery is vastly superior to the one below.

Obviously.

With a tight hold on Excalibur's hilt, Alex decided to spend the rest of his eight hours in a leisurely stroll of this bland sapling-infested desert.

The only sound echoing along this lonely desert was the sound of his coarse along the sandy ground.

-----------------------------

It was roughly a five-hour stroll, now in a state of mind to measure his time and not under constant threat, that he noted a stand-out sight in the desert.

A huge sapling.

Roughly the size of a skyscraper.

Yet, still appearing as a sapling.

Curious, and his instincts not warning him one bit, Alex approached it.

Mindlessly Inspecting the sapling, he noticed something strange concerning it.

With a raised eyebrow he glanced at the outline below it, 'A plot? An acre?'

An outline, almost certainly artificially drawn to designate the 'territory' of that tree.

A line he had yet to pass.

Alex couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Nevertheless, he took a step forward, his instincts having never failed him yet.

Entering that sapling's territory.

...

Nothing changed, yet an undeniable energy flowed through that sapling.

An energy that Alex's resistance waved off, but nevertheless was concerning.

'Magic.' He confirmed once more.

And more disturbingly, that sapling felt...

Alive.

Conscious.

"Anyone there?" Alex voiced out nonchalantly.

...

No response.

At least, initially.

"Who are you?" An inquiry came from the sapling.

No, not from the sapling.

Alex blinked, only to notice a small girl appearing beside the tree, tilting her head.

However, to describe as a 'girl' would be rather inaccurate.

Appearing mechanical, with a robotic skeletal appearance and empty eye-sockets it was assuredly a magical creature with the appearance of a little girl.

Before Alex could reply, the mechanical girl hummed with awe, almost an instinctual reverence at the sight of...

"Excalibur...?"

She never knew of its existence, whereas it was as if in her very nature, in the nature of her species to recognize the blade and the engraved letters inscribed upon the holy sword of the world.

Alex could only blink, nodding absentmindedly, "Yeah."

She rapidly approached, much to Alex's perplexion.

"You should be careful, that thing's sharp-" He warned only for the girl to ignore his words and hug Excalibur.

"Don't worry, mister. It's far away from my body."

...

"You're the tree?" Alex hazarded a guess, the magic pouring out of her felt exactly like the sapling towering over him.

"Yup!" She nodded, not regarding Alex as she was too busy tightly hugging Excalibur.

Letting her have her moment, Alex only stood there unbothered.

And a moment later, she addressed him, "You should hide here mister! I'll hide you from the Caretaker!"

"Who?"

"The one who waters me and my little sisters!"

'Huh?'

"What's he gonna do? Water me?" Alex deadpanned, pointing at his face.

"Hmm, now that I think about it, I don't know what he's going to do to you." She stroked her chin in deep contemplation.

Unconvinced, Alex bid her farewell, "Uh-huh. Well, it's been nice talking to you. Have a good da-"

She cut him off with a protest, detaching herself from Excalibur, "No! It's all the more reason you should hide! Who knows what he'll do to you!"

...

He considered it for a moment.

Nodding his agreement, "Fine, I've got three hours to kill, just don't expect me to talk a lot."

"That's fine! This is the first time I ever talked with someone! Hehe~!" She giggled.

"Unfortunate, but you're not missing out on a lot, I'll tell you that much." Alex nodded sympathetically, plopping down on the sand beneath him.

-----------------------------

It was a mostly contently silent few hours, with the girl being the eager conversationalist.

"How did you get here, mister?"

"Fighting and running for my life." He coldly and curtly replied, not eager to elaborate.

"What are you, mister?"

"Human... mostly." He wasn't sure how much literal dragon blood that cruel deity forced down his veins.

...

"What is a 'Human', mister? It feels familiar but I don't know what it is."

"A monkey."

"What is a monkey?"

"A pretentious ice girl would describe me as one, I guess." He shrugged.

"So... you are a Human and a Human is a Monkey and a Monkey is you? I'm confused mister."

"No need to be confused, you pretty much got it." He gave her an encouraging yet lackluster thumbs-up.

Alex sighed tiredly, the thought of having ignored her warning and leaving flashing in his mind.

'But, this isn't half-bad either.' He leaned into his sandy bed, his eyes leisurely staring at the endless sky.

A little irritating, but incomparable to... what he went through.

And to be frank, he's dealt with Nora, and nothing beats her in terms of irritation.

...

Except for the System.

-----------------------------

He should have been over with his month term at any second now, but...

His instincts flared as his body shot up and not a moment later a panicky expression crossed the girl's features, "Quick! Hide, mister!" She gestured at the sapling.

The sapling's magical bark cracked open, absurdly, and a gigantic bark maw opened as the girl prompted Alex to enter.

"If this is how I die, I won't complain." Alex nodded as he adhered to the girl's plea.

Entering the bark maw, the mouth closed and he was left with a deep darkness... and the sapling was see-through.

How thoughtful.

...

A few seconds later, Alex's eyes widened at the sight of... something entering the sapling's 'Acre'.

It appeared completely demonic in appearance.

If Alex were to describe it, it appeared as if you took the caricature of a slouching witch and dialed up the nightmare fuel to a hundred.

Slouched back, green almost melting skin, long thin, and twisting limbs, a monstrous expression, and a freakishly cold smile holding a bucket.

Even calling it a 'humanoid' would be generous.

'Still better than those Abominations.' Alex made his comparison.

"Hello, Number 2." It voiced out, with a delighted and creepy chirpy voice.

The girl appeared unbothered, regarding the witch-like entity with a salute, "Greetings!"

Narrowing his eyes at it, Alex couldn't help but feel a strange, unfamiliar energy pouring out of the entity.

It was Mana radiating out of it, undoubtedly.

A disturbing quantity of it.

He wouldn't be surprised if it had a Magic Core of its own, with how much was nonchalantly pouring out of that... thing.

Yet, there was still an aspect he couldn't quite place his finger on, attached to that thing.

In a way, it felt familiar.

Very familiar.

His screams roared at him to keep his guard up, his hold on Excalibur tightening subconsciously, his body at the ready to dice that demon into mince meat.

It set his instincts on edge even more than the Abominations.

This thing was strong.

Nodding, the creature creepily approached the roots of the sapling, passing the girl by and pouring the bucket's contents without hesitation.

'Water with mana?' Alex noted that the water in that bucket was more mana than the actual liquid because of how concentrated it was.

"Thank you for the meal!" The sapling-girl thanked the... Caretaker eagerly.

It nodded, "He was generous with your feed today. A few more centuries and you'll be ready."

Without waiting any further for a response or staying for a conversation, the Caretaker promptly left the 'Acre'.

...

Alex could only sigh that he didn't have to deal with that thing, a question flashing in his mind, 'What in the fuck is tha-'

His thoughts were cut short by a familiar, infuriating, invasive...

Notification blaring in his mind.

[PING!]

[Punishment Complete!]

[Transporting 'User'. Alex Andrite to Remnant.]

-----------------------------

It was instant, it was absurd.

Alex blinked, and he found himself at the exact same spot, at the exact same point in time that he had left an entire month ago.

Back in his warm dormitory room; the dorm room of Team RAWP.

The frozen, concerned expression of his Team in front of him. As he stood there, dirtied and his clothing shredded, battered, and torn beyond recognition, with Excalibur firmly held in his right hand.

[Reversing 'User.' Alex Andrite's Clothing!]

His clothing returned to the state it was before he left, Beacon's uniform worn neatly and hugging his figure.

[Reversing 'User.' Alex Andrite's Appearance!]

The specks of sand from that mysterious desert that was left on his body disappeared as well, exchanged with his exact state before he was thrown into Purgatory.

...

[Restoring Core System Features & Skills.]

...

Alex's heart raced as Excalibur seemingly disappeared in motes of light.

[Conversion of 'Excalibur The Sword Of Promised Victory' into 'Aura' through [Authority of REDACTED] successful!]

The sheath inside his very being was being tampered with as well.

However...

[Conversion and Sealing of 'Avalon The Everdistant Utopia' into 'Aura' through [Authority of REDACTED]... FAILED!]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[RECALIBRATING...]

[Translation of 'Avalon The Everdistant Utopia' partial success!]

It remained unchanged, as the attempt was thwarted with ease.

And finally...

[Resuming Time on Remnant, Everafter, and branching dimensions!]

The flow of time resumed without issue, as if it had never ceased to begin with.

Ruby stood worriedly in front of Alex's face, completing her anxious inquiry regarding where he was leaving to, "Go-ing?"

...

Alex didn't know how to feel.

He was relieved, happy.

That he was finally back, back... home?

If he were honest with himself, he missed his Team - each with their voices, quirks, and occasional nagging.

In comparison to that hell?

He'll take Weiss's haughty know-it-all rants any day of the week.

Oh, the flavor of coffee.

The taste of food... he's so damn starved.

His warm bed, only surpassed by Avalon's flowerbeds.

Yet, the voice of his tormentor reminded him that it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

As if he needed a reminder.

A bubbling, unexpressed fury rose from the surface, his only outlet having been fighting for his life with all his being against those incomprehensible Abominations.

As that cheery voice called out to him.

[You appear much more lively, Alexander. I take it you have learned your lesson?]

'My... lesson?'

An ugly, enraged frown found its way onto Alex's face, as he extended his hand in an instant, and motes of light gathered forming Excalibur.

Ruby backed off reflexively, as the girls could only stare at what was going on, a tense atmosphere forming as Alex's Aura and rage permeated the air, the majestic sight of Excalibur being the only calming sight.

"Alex?" Pyrrha noticed immediately that something was... very wrong.

"Yeah, why did you... summon 'Stick', are you okay?" Ruby anxiously questioned, keeping her distance from Alex's enraged look.

Weiss could only gape in surprise at his fury, having never seen nor expected to see such an expression on Alex Andrite of all people.

And most importantly... what just happened?

Why is he mad?

The girls of Team RAWP could only look at him with wary yet worried looks.

He wouldn't hurt them, but he couldn't be mad at anyone but them, right?

To have such an expression...

"Alex... talk to us, please?" Ruby honestly pleaded.

[Wipe that snarl off your face, you're scaring them.]

Alex's frown ceased at Ruby's uneasy plea, replaced by an exhausted thin line.

And as he took a deep, calming sigh most of the tenseness left his limbs.

He turned and glanced at Ruby tiredly, "Don't call it 'Stick'... it has a name."

""What?"" The girls really couldn't piece together where this was all coming from.

He just went from zero to one hundred.

And they all knew...

Alex and mood swings do NOT go hand in hand.

Their confusion grew as he almost lovingly addressed the formerly named 'Stick':

"And it's name is Excalibur." He fondly and respectfully affirmed.

The name felt powerful.

It felt sacred...

It felt right.

Alex's semblance, the thing he treated with absolutely zero respect.

Now, given the exact contrasting treatment.

Beyond the simple, neutral respect he gave to others.

It was a respect, almost reverence in his tone that they never heard from him.

One they never believed possible, at least from someone like him.

Not even Ruby herself, as deeply as she loved Crescent Rose, could rival the way Alex now warmly named... Excalibur.

"...So sudden." Weiss voiced out her bewilderment, her tone laced with suspicion and confusion.

Something was wrong.

To Be Continued!

-Author Note Start-

Wow!

It's been a ride, my friends!

I am glad to announce that this little Purgatory Arc has finally come to a close.

Will Alex somehow end up back there?

Who knows! That depends on him and the System's Variables.

Now then!

We're back in Remnant for a longgggg longgggg while, and we'll be jumping straight into some action very very soon.

(If he were to spend most of his time outside of Remnant this fic's title would be a bit misleading lmao).

Anywho!

Look forward to the changes and effects Purgatory had done for Alex, and how his team will address them, will he snitch on the System?

Now?

Later?

Soon?

WHO FUCKING KNOWS?!

EXPECT NEXT CHAPPIE TO ARRIVE IN AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME!

Bu bye!

Love ya!

If ya'll feeling frisky and rich you can donate to my P. A .T R 3 0 N to show some nice and kind support - This is purely support no benefits except early chapters (That I do not do yet properly lmao) which will eventually be available for everyone... like a twitch donation typa thing.

Here's the link:

patre0n.com/BurgerNoTomatoes