The water ball covered Jason's entire body. Anthony held him there waiting for him to be reborn. Anthony knew that Jason would come back. It was only a matter of time.
For thirty seconds, the arena was quiet. For thirty seconds, the world held its breathe. Everyone stared at the arena down below, waiting for another miracle to happen. Everyone wanted to see if Jason would come back from the embrace of death.
Inside that ball of water, Jason's body caught fire. The heat began to evaporate the water that surrounded him while Anthony did what he could to keep him contained. There was just not enough water present to stop Jason's resurrection. Eventually, the water bubble popped and Jason collapsed to the floor. He got up off the ground and looked at Anthony.
"Guess you truly are more formidable than I initially thought," Jason said to him with a grin as analysis and assess began to function.
Anthony sneered at him. "You are like a little cockroach, aren't you?" Anthony replied. His anger clearly evident on his reptilian face. "You just can't seem to stay dead. Can you?"
"Yea it is a special trait of mine." Jason said putting his hands on his hips. His grin widened slightly. "No matter how many times I die, I'll just keep coming back." His blue eyes sparkled with feint amusement. "That is what it means to fight a phoenix."
—
The crowd that was silent before began to whisper amongst themselves.
"What did he say?"
"I could have sworn he mentioned the mythical phoenix."
"He's a phoenix? That explains how he evades dying like a plague."
Jessica was watching this exchange in complete shock. She never knew that Jason was bonded with the Phoenix. She only knew he was bonded with a creature but she just didn't know which one. After hearing his words, the pieces started clicking in place. Her expression slowly changed to worry as he died multiple times during the fight. She can't help but wish this fight would end. It had to end in Jason's favor, yet she knew that Anthony was out for blood.
This fight won't end quickly and Jessica is not sure how much longer she can hold herself together if Jason continues to die during this fight.
—
Jason lunged at Anthony to continue the fight. After a few blows, Anthony started to see something different about Jason. 'He's not faster nor stronger. Yet something is different about him, but what?' Anthony tried to figure out what was different about Jason when Jason suddenly used fire step to teleport and kicked the back of Anthony's leg. Anthony dropped down to one knee and he immediately tried to counter by sweeping his arm. Jason used the flat of his hand and pressed it against the scales on Anthony's chest before taking the blow.
-3 HP
Jason grinned while blood trickled down from his mouth. He found his opening. Now he just needed to be patient and hoped his instincts were right. Anthony's attacks are starting to have little effect from before. He used to be able to end up killing Jason after five blows. Now Anthony needs twice as many attacks to bring Jason down. That when it hit Anthony. The more times Jason died, the tougher he became. He was becoming more resilient everytime he died.
'There must be a limit,' Anthony told himself. 'And I need to find it fast before I lose this match.' Anthony started attacking with relentless abandon. Jason dodged his attacks as they were easy to read and predictable. Jason was watching, waiting for an opening within Anthony's onslaught
Jason parried, redirected and dodged Anthony's attacks, yet he never countered. Everytime Jason saw an opening, he jumped back instead of throwing a punch. Anthony attacked again. Once more Jason dodged and jumped back.
"Stop dodging and fight me!" Anthony roared. Blue fire erupted from his mouth trying to burn Jason to ash. If water didn't work, maybe fire would.
Jason used fire step to teleport away toward the edge of the arena. Anthony stopped breathing his blue flames. His face twisted into a sneer before realizing something. Then he began to smile. Jason knew what he was thinking. Anthony believed that the fire would work against his ability to come back from the grave. That is just what Jason wanted him to think. Now they were both grinning for completely opposite reasons.
Anthony's hand entered his void space and pulled out a scimitar. The blue blade was a meter long and was made out of scales from a leviathan. 'He might have even used his own scales to forge it.' Jason thought with a frown. 'If a weapon is forged using the very flesh of a blessed, then its properties will increase drastically for that specific individual. This is becoming troublesome. I don't have a weapon to use currently. I certainly do not have a weapon forged exclusively for me. However there is something that I can do.'
It was time to test out something new.
Jason's body relaxed.the tension in his muscles eased up and he stood up straight. His eyes closed and his head tilted upward looking at the sky above. The sun was beginning to set painting the sky in a brilliant orange hue.
The change in Jason's entire demeanor was easily noticeable in everyone's eyes and none saw it clearer than Anthony. Everyone in the audience collectively thought the same thing. 'What is about to happen next?'
Jason knew he had unlocked his blessed transformation. He also subconsciously knew how to activate it. He searched deep inside his body and felt a ball of fire. The ball of fire was small, compact and incredibly powerful. He reached out and touched the fire. He expected it to burn him alive, yet the flame felt cool to the touch. It wrapped around his hand and quickly spread throughout his body until he was completely engulfed in flames.
Jason realized something as soon as the flames covered his body. The flames were not made to destroy. They were pure and meant to protect. They only became used to eliminate an adversary when necessary. Jason smiled at the revelation. He knew what was at stake. If she wanted to wager herself in this fight, then he would fight for her.
Jason opened his eyes and found himself in a container in the shape of an egg. He stretched his hands out and pressed it against the smooth round surface. He then pushed and the shell began to crack. He pushed again applying more pressure and eventually fell out of the container. Jason hit the ground and then slowly stood up.
Everyone was shocked at Jason's new appearance.