A few days passed after the incident involving the Eclipse Gate. The royal family held a celebration in the rebuilt palace. They invited all the mages that participated, including those who helped with the evacuation and dealing with the aftermath.
Over the last few days, the kingdom focused on rebuilding with the mages help. With all of their magic, the construction could be completed a lot faster. Working together also improved the guild's relationships and the mages were closer now than before the competition.
The one who contributed the most to the construction was Jura. He used his Earth Magic to reconstruct most of the destroyed buildings. Other earth mages also helped in the reconstruction process, but they weren't as fast as Jura and couldn't reconstruct as many buildings as him because he had a lot more magic power.
Ben also helped a lot. He was a craftsman, so there was a lot that he could do. He didn't use his magic at any point though and didn't display a lot of his skill either. He only showed the necessary skills to help and that was more than enough.
During this time, Ben thought about his battle against the dragons. He could defeat them all, but he was exhausted afterward. The side effect of his Dragon Force was bad and it would be worse if he still needed to fight after using that.
"Big Bro Ben (Ben Aniki), how could you use Dragon Force at will? Do you also have a dragon lacrima inside your body?" Sting asked in a respectful tone during the celebration.
Rogue was also with him as they spoke to Ben normally. Sabertooth apologized to Fairy Tail a few days ago with Sting leading them. They bowed deeply when apologizing and promised not to act like pricks anymore.
Fairy Tail forgave them because a war between guilds is normal. Jiemma and Minerva weren't there. They disappeared following the incident with the Eclipse Gate, but that was none of Fairy Tail's business.
Ben's battles with the dragons amazed Sting and Rogue. He was the only person who could defeat real dragons. Since then, they start calling him Big Bro or Aniki out of admiration for him.
"Dragon Lacrima? Nah, I don't use something like that." Ben calmly answered while drinking his wine.
Sting and Rogue were surprised, just like everyone else in the room. They were listening to the conversation as soon as Sting asked about the dragon lacrima.
"T-then how could you use Dragon Force at will?" Rogue asked.
"It's because I'm strong." Ben calmly replied.
The others were dumbfounded by the answer, but can't deny it.
"It seems you don't understand." Ben said.
"N-no way. Of course, we believe that you're strong. If you aren't, then no one in this world can be called strong." Sting hastily said.
"You don't seem to get what he's actually saying." Kenshin noted.
"All 1st generation Dragon Slayers are capable of accessing Dragon Force without the need of a lacrima. There are conditions that must be met first. The primary one is becoming proficient with your Dragon Slayer Magic." He explained.
"That's why I said that the reason is because I'm strong." Ben added.
"O-oh, so that's how it is." Sting said, finally understanding it a little.
"The required level for each Dragon Slayer is different. Even if 2 Dragon Slayers managed to reach the same level, one of them might not be able to use Dragon Force right away." Ben pointed out.
Sting and Rogue have a better understanding of it after that explanation.
"Then, what's your required level?" Rogue asked.
"Hmm, I'm not really sure how to explain that to you. Let's just say I need to be 3 times stronger than Jura to unlock Dragon Force naturally." Ben answered.
Everyone was really surprised now because they knew how strong Jura was. He needed to be 3 times stronger than that to unlock Dragon Force. That meant Ben could defeat 2 Jura's even before using Dragon Force.
"A-and when did you reach that level?" Sting asked.
"I think it was 2 years ago." Ben nonchalantly said.
Those who heard it couldn't be shocked anymore. They merely sigh. If Ben reached that level 2 years ago, it means he's much stronger now. He might be 4 times stronger than Jura now in his basic form and they're not wrong.
Just from MP alone, Ben has more than 1.6 million points in base form. Jura's magic power is around 400 thousand points. Average S-Class mages have 50 - 100 thousand points, while strong ones have 100 - 200 thousand, so Ben is ridiculously strong.
"If we didn't use dragon lacrimas, how strong do you think we would need to be to unlock Dragon Force naturally?" Sting asked.
"Well, I don't know your magic all that well, but I can assure you it won't be as high as mine. You would probably need to be on Jura's level in regards to raw power." Ben remarked.
"Uh, I'm glad I used a dragon lacrima." Rogue said.
Sting agreed and Ben can only sigh after hearing that. Kids these days don't want to work too hard. They want to achieve great things, but they don't want to work or think hard enough.
They were still willing to improve and asked Ben for advice. Other people also came forward and they all ask Ben for advice about their problems. He didn't hesitate to answer all their questions and give them good advice.
They were thankful for Ben's answers that enlightened them. It's rare to receive advice from high-level mages like Ben. Most of them are very secretive and won't give good advice even if they answer questions.
They'll only tell them things they already know, which isn't useful at all. Those people's reasons are the same, their ways to be that strong are their secret. Ben could care about that sort of thing. He will give people advice, but it will up to them whether they follow his advice and become stronger.
Ben knew that even with the same problem and the same solution, not everyone can achieve the same result. He'll still help without any hesitation. These guys aren't his enemies even though they're his guild's rivals.
A danger that can threaten this kingdom, continent or even world might appear again. So rather than getting stronger alone, he will help many people become stronger as well. There's a limit to what a single person can do alone no matter how strong he is.
Ben tried to make everyone in his guild strong and there were good results. This latest incident forced him to realize it wasn't good enough. So he wanted to make a lot more people stronger for the future.
He didn't know what threat would surface in the future. He did however know there were individuals that threatened the whole world. 2 of them were Acnologia and Zeref. Their existence is enough reason for Ben to be worried.
The stronger he got, the more he realized the danger those two posed. With his current power level, Ben knew he could destroy this continent. So Acnologia and Zeref must be able to do the same thing and then some.
Ben was still answering questions when Arcadios suddenly announced that the king will enter the hall. It wasn't the king though, it was Natsu. He was wearing the king's clothes and crown. Everyone else was dumbfounded. Only the Fairy Tail mages found it amusing.
Anyway, the party continued and the next day, the mages returned to their hometowns. Fairy Tail returned to Magnolia and the townsfolk were waiting for them. They prepared a big celebration for Fairy Tail's victory, so another big party took place.
Then while he enjoyed the celebration, Ben suddenly flinched and stared in the direction of the forest. "Tsk, why's he here?"