Things were not looking good from the stands. The NPR of team JNPR exchanged nervous glances among themselves as Jaune laid on the ground, looking all but defeated. Cardin seemed content to wait for him to get up, leaning on his mace, no doubt relishing the act of publicly humiliating Jaune. Pyrrha had to fight the urge to go down there and teach Cardin a lesson herself. It would be a futile effort of course, she would be stopped by before she could even step onto the arena. "Stop Nora." Ren said beside her, and his hand holding the now standing Nora's arm, keeping her in place. Pyrrha had never seen Ren look so angry before as he glared down at Cardin.

"That dick needs a leg or two broken though" Nora growled out. "Why is Goodwitch letting him run his mouth like that?"

"I'm sure we'd all love nothing more than to go down there and put him in his place, but it would only serve to further humiliate Jaune. The whole class would see Jaune as someone who needed to be protected by his team." The cool logic in Ren's words was in stark contrast to the searing anger in his voice.

"Ms. Goodwitch always taught us that the mental aspect of the fight is just as important as the physical one. As frustrating as it is, to what Cardin's doing is a perfectly valid way of gaining an advantage in this fight." Pyrrha reasoned, trying her best to keep the frustration out of her voice. "Ren's right, Nora. The best thing we can do for Jaune right now is believe in him. Besides the fight isn't over yet, our leader may still surprise us. He's always been one to defy expectations."

Nora sat down begrudgingly, clearly unsatisfied with being unable to do anything but watch. Not that Pyrrha and Ren were faring much better. The whole team's body language was brimming with enough anger that the surrounding teams inched away from them in their seats. Pyrrha ignored them and focused on the match in front of them. She breath a sigh of relief as she saw Jaune had finally begun to rise to his feet with a resolute look on his face. It seemed that their leader still had fight left in him. She could only hope that it would be enough.

"What's with the look Arc? You don't think it's actually possible for you to beat me, do you?" Pyrrha heard Cardin call out as he hefted his mace up. Jaune didn't bother to remark, instead tilting his head down to let his bangs fall over his eyes as he pulled his signature sweater's hood over his head. Suddenly, Jaune clutched his left arm in pain as he cried out. His sword clattered to the ground as he staggered back and doubled over. Wisps of pure white aura could be seen rising from Jaune's left arm. Pyrrha leaned forward in her seat, her hand clenched together in worry.

"Cardin!" Jaune managed to yell despite the clear agony in his voice. "I can't hold it back any longer, you should run!"

"Jeez Arc, did you hit your head when I sent you flying or something?" said Cardin, looking at Jaune with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. "You do know stuff like that is only works in the movies, right?" Cardin began stepping towards the blonde swordsman, intent on finishing the match. However before he was in range to swing his mace, Jaune's upper body went from hunched over to completely slack. His left arm, now no longer clutched in pain, was now wreathed in a blood red aura, which quickly spread throughout the rest of his body, consuming him like demonic fire.

Pyrrha's gasp was mirrored by much of the crowd. Someone's aura changing colour was practically unheard of. Even Mrs. Goodwitch had seemed shocked before quickly masking it under her usual stern guise. Pyrrha turned to look at the rest of her team only to meet Ren's equally astonished gaze. Nora leaned forward in her seat, her eyes glued to the arena and a huge smile plastered to her face. "I didn't know our fearless leader had a final form!" Nora said gleefully as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation. Pyrrha and Ren quickly returned their focus back to the duel as Jaune slowly straightened until he stood at his full height. His eyes were turned to the ceiling with a forlorn expression adorning his face. "It has been many millennia since I have awakened in this realm, to see it again so soon is quite a pleasant surprise." said Jaune. The crimson aura surrounding him began to dwindle, the flames dwindling until only a faint ethereal outline could be seen, allowing Pyrrha to get a better look Jaune's face. His eyes were no longer the cool blue she remembered so fondly. A sinister red had taken its place.

So how can I be sure that this is how my semblance actually works?

I told you, your semblance feeds off of the world's perception of you, particularly those in close proximity. The cooler-

Edgier. Pretending to have a demon trapped in my arm isn't cool, its edgy.

Whatever kid. The end of the line is, the cooler people think you are, the stronger you actually become.

You expect me to believe that? How do I know you're not actually a demon trying to possess me?

A bit late to be asking that question now, isn't it?

As if to prove the point, Jaune felt various muscles flex and relax throughout his body, almost as if to judge his strength.

Damn, I could definitely get used to having this much aura. How did you ever lose a fight?

Don't get any funny ideas, demon. This is a temporary arrangement.

Relax kid, if I was a demon why would I possess a body that has such a high chance of tripping and impaling itself on its own sword before I even had a chance to steal it.

That sounds awfully like something a demon would say. Are you sure this whole possession thing is temporary?

Probably.

You're not even sure? I thought you said you've had this semblance before!

Kid I already told you, when I had the semblance it was just the strength enhancing stuff. This whole possession shit is totally new to me too.

And how exactly did your semblance change to include "possession shit"

I have a few theories.

You're totally a demon, aren't you?

"So your semblance is that your aura can change to different colours? You really don't belong here, do you?" Cardin said interrupting the internal conversation. "Well, it's been fun and all Jauney boy but I think we're done here." Cardin leapt forward, sending his mace careening downwards towards Jaune's head. However, before it had the chance to reach its target, the probably temporarily possessed Jaune dashed forward, driving his fist into Cardin's stomach. Jaune could hear the air being forced out of Cardin's lungs as for the first time since the duel's start, Jaune wasn't the one who was airborne.

The stands were in total silence, the sound Cardin's armour clattering against the ground echoed through the room as he tumbled to the floor. Jaune face filled with malevolent mirth as his ominous laughter rang throughout the room. "It has been quite some time since someone had the courage to challenge me so directly." Jaune said, amusement clear in his voice. "It seems I missed it more than I believed."

Aren't you over-doing it a little? Nobody is going to think this is cool.

Kid, can you please just shut up and let a man work in peace?

Cardin let out a growl as he hurriedly clambered to his feet. "You're dead Arc. Dead, you hear me?" Cardin dashed forward, executing a flurry of deadly swings. However Jaune leisurely dodged the onslaught with unnatural grace, each stroke of the mace missing the possessed swordsman by an impossibly slim margin. All the while Jaune's chilling laughter pierced through the room, demonstrating the ease at which Jaune now took control of the fight. Ducking under a particularly close swing, Jaune once again closed the distance between himself and the ramaging brute. He grabbed Cardin's arm, still extended from the swing, and pivoted. Using Cardin's own momentum against him, Jaune threw the mace wielder over his shoulder. Cardin hit the ground with a resounding crash, closely followed by Jaune as he used his remaining momentum to drop down and drive his elbow into the supine Cardin's solar plexus, winding Cardin yet again. Before Cardin had enough time to recover Jaune quickly hand sprung away from his foe, vaulting himself towards Crocea Mors. Using the momentum from his jump, he slid on his feet towards his ancestral sword, before picking it up in one fluid motion as he slowed to a halt.

Okay, I'll admit that was cool as hell.

Told ya.

"Wow, that flip move thingy was cooler than yours, Pyrrha!" Nora could be heard shouting from the stands.

This time it was Jaune who was more than content to wait for Cardin to regain his footing, opting to instead walk to the far end of the arena to pick up his shield, mechashifting it back to its scabbard form and fastening it to his belt. It didn't take Cardin long to struggle to his feet, his face beet red from exertion and embarrassment in equal parts.

Ms. Goodwitch looked unsure of whether to stop the match or not. While no rules had necessarily been broken, clearly something abnormal was occurring. This duel no longer seemed like one between students. Jaune moved like a seasoned huntsman playing with his food. Was it even possible for a semblance to do something like this? In the end, Ms. Goodwitch decided that she was more than capable of interfering if necessary and decided to allow the match to continue. Besides, a quick glance at the electronic scoreboard had shown that Cardin's aura had just barely dipped into the yellow while Jaune's was bordering on red and steadily depleting. It seemed that Jaune's new semblance required a fair amount of aura to maintain.

"This is quite a fine blade" Jaune said, inspecting his sword as if it was for the first time. "Perhaps in this life I shall learn to use the weapons you humans so dearly pride yourselves with."

"Shut up! I'm tired of hearing you go on and on with your delusions, Arc. You're a failure of a huntsman". Cardin practically foamed at the mouth, furious that he had been humiliated so thoroughly. "One or two lucky hits don't change who you are. A loser. Don't forget it."

Once again Jaune's sinister laugh filled the air. "I quite like this one! He declares me delusional and then deems the difference between us simple luck. Now enlighten me, exactly which one of us is the delusional one?"

Cardin simply growled in reply, bending at the knees and lifting his mace up as he prepared to once again continue his assault.

Jaune's eerie laughter quieted down to a simple smirk on his face. To everyone's surprise, he sheathed Crocea Mors as he mirrored Cardin's stance, keeping one hand on the hilt of his weapon and the other wrapped around the scabbard. "While I'd love to stay and continue this, it seems my control over this body won't last as long as I would have quite liked." Jaune casually stated as crimson aura coalesced around him. "I would rather not sour the first taste of a fight I have had in centuries with the bitterness of defeat."

Cardin stepped forward with a primal roar but before he could make any ground Jaune dashed towards him with speed that almost rivaled Ruby's. To the students in the stands it looked like Jaune had simply phased through Cardin without ever drawing his sword. However, the telltale whisper of a blade dragging against its scabbard echoed through the room, revealing to the students what their eyes could not. Cardin seemed to be frozen in place for just a moment before dropping his mace and collapsing to the floor, his aura flashing to indicate that it had run dry. Ms. Goodwitch rushed forward to check for any injuries on the boy. Glancing over him, she realized that other than aura exhaustion he was totally unharmed. Confident that Cardin had no injuries, she turned her gaze to Jaune. The crimson aura that had enveloped him had begun to fade and his eye colour had returned to the normal blue. Putting aside the questions she had, she rose to her feet. "The winner of this duel is Mr. Arc!".

We did it!

I did it.

You're a part of my semblance. Ergo, we did it.

This is why I hate kids.

The silence among the crowd of students shattered as they excitedly turned among themselves to loudly whisper about what they had just witnessed. Jaune turned to look at his team with a beaming smile, finally overcoming the foe that had bested him time and time again. He could see his team mirroring his grin, clearly proud of their leader. Of him. However, before Jaune could make his way towards the stands, he felt his vision wavered as he fell to his knees. Try as he might, he could not muster the strength to get back up. Instead the ground came up to meet him. The last thing he saw before his vision went dark was the hazy silhouettes of his team rushing towards him.

Jaune awoke with a start, quickly rising up as his eyes grew accustomed to the light. He immediately regretted that decision, his body screaming in protest as his sore muscles begged for more rest. He begrudgingly laid back down in his unfamiliar bed. He carefully looked around at his surroundings, taking note of the white sheets he laid upon and the white curtains that surrounded him.

We're in the infirmary.

Thank God, my head kills. They probably have all sorts of pills here to help with that. What are the odds that I can convince you to steal some?

How can you even have a headache without a head?

Kid, there's a whole lot that doesn't make sense about this semblance.

Touché. How long have I been out?

You mean how long have we've been out. I can't exactly sense anything when you're asleep. And judging from how much aura you've regained its probably been about half a day give or take a couple of hours.

Great, so its the dead of the night. What are we supposed to do now?

How about we just go back to sleep. I haven't felt this hungover since the morning after Tai challenged me to a drinking contest. I won, by the way.

I don't care. Why are you even hungover?

I guess possession doesn't really agree with me.

Thank God, I'd rather not have you take over my body at your every whim.

Kid, if you knew me you would know that a hangover has never stopped me.

Great, good to know that the demon in my head is also a raging alcoholic.

Hardy, har, har. You sure you want to be a huntsman, kid? You'd make a great comedian.

Stop calling me kid, My name's Jaune.

I like it better when we aren't on a first name basis.

Speaking of names, I think I deserve some answers. Just who are you? It's clear you know how to fight with aura, so I'd reckon you're a huntsman. Or at least used to be. I don't know what you are now. A ghost? A demon?

Yes.

Enough jokes. Please.

Alright, alright, jeez kid. Where's my damn flask when I need it? I can already tell tonight's going to be a royal pain in the ass.

AN: Sorry this took so long to get out! I figured I'd do the big reveal in the next chapter, though I think most of you probably can guess who the voice in Jaune's head is anyways. As always constructive criticism is appreciated so leave a review to let me know your thoughts!

EDIT: So I tried posting this chapter last night but it looks like it didn't quite register, sorry about the false update!