Makarov finally canceled the plan to disband Fairy Tail after Ben persuaded him not to. Disbanding the guild is not the solution to their problem and the danger they'll face. In Ben's mind, the best decision is to strengthen their guild rather than disband it.
But they don't really need to come up with a big plan for their guild's development. Their mages have become a lot more motivated after the fight with Tartaros and Acnologia. They completely understand that they won't be safe forever.
Even their strongest mage was defeated by Acnologia again and this time he lost a hand. They've witnessed how powerful Ben had become over the last 7 years. He even killed dragons by himself, yet he still couldn't defeat Acnologia.
They all knew how hopeless they were when Ben achieved all his feats. Just like the other Dragon Slayers and Gray, they realized that they were burdens in a war. So they train harder to avoid being that much of a burden to their friends.
They knew they wouldn't be as strong as Ben, but at least they can hold their own weight in the future. Another crisis that Ben can't handle might surface again, so they need to be prepared for that. If they don't get stronger, then they won't survive.
It wasn't just them that worked hard, Ben did as well, a lot harder than anyone else. He is focused on training and improving his abilities. By abilities, he means all of them, so there are many things to improve.
Ben even utilized his clones to train and he could now make 10 of them. Each of his clones was as strong as a good S-Class mage, which is terrifying. One of his clones even fought Freed in a sparring match and won rather easily.
By using clones, Ben had more time for his social life. He can spend time with his family and friends while his clones are training and learning. Everything his clones do will return to his mind, so he can learn many things at once, increasing his efficiency.
Ben will still take jobs every week though because real battles are important too. Real battles will give him a lot of experience he can't get from normal training. In real battles, he won't know what his enemies will do and that is important to improve his battle skills even if his enemies are weak.
So Ben always took a job every week, mainly ones that required him to fight. He also took easy jobs every once in a while even though he is a S-Class mage and the guild's ace. The reason for that is so he can take his kids on these easy jobs because they always want to go with their parents when they work.
So Ben and Mira take them on those jobs sometimes. One of them will do the job while the other stayed with the children. Their siblings also joined them sometimes so those jobs turned into family vacations.
Those easy jobs were also useful for Ben and Mira's siblings because they can test their skills. They will comment on and evaluate each other's skills so they can improve their performance later. Other people's advice will come in handy.
Even Ben can't think of everything alone because others always have different ideas. He often got inspiration from others' thoughts that he never even thought of. Everyone has different thoughts and that will lead to different ideas.
Then, there is one thing that is quite interesting to see. Ben now had a left hand again as if he never lost it. Even the scars on his left hand have disappeared, so it really looked as if he never lost that left hand and it really surprised everyone at first.
Now they knew the reason and it no longer seemed strange. Ben made that left hand using magic he obtained from Grimoire Heart. It's Rustyrose's Arc of Embodiment which allows him to create almost anything as long as he has enough magic power and can maintain it.
He didn't plan to recreate his left hand at first because it will remind him of his defeat and became his motivation to become much stronger. But his children always looked sad whenever they see his left arm. So he practiced with Arc of Embodiment and increased his mastery of it.
Porlyusica once offered him a prosthetic hand like the one Gildarts uses. He refused thought because a prosthetic hand won't look or work the same as a real hand no matter how good it is. Compared to that, a hand created by Arc of Embodiment is very identical to a real hand.
So he recreated his left hand and made it look flawless to make his children happy. Ben was glad that he did it because he can now lift his children with two hands. They always like being lifted by him, so this was the correct choice.
Other than jobs, Ben also had some work for the Magic Council. The Magic Council was in disarray following Tartaros's attack. So as a Wizard Saint, Ben needed to help rebuild the Magic Council.
He never liked the Council but he knew they were needed by Ishgar's magic world. So he helped reform the organization to make it a lot better. It's not easy to use his method on the Council and he even needed use force on the stubborn old people.
They never liked Fairy Tail to begin with, so he didn't hesitate to kick their asses. But even if they didn't like Fairy Tail, they had to admit that Fairy Tail often cleaned up their messes. So they can't say anything after Ben forcefully reminded of that.
His way to handle this was caused a conflict with 2 of the 4 Gods of Ishgar though. Wolfheim and Draculos deemed his method too forceful and confronted him. They called him to a private office to talk without being disturbed.
Ben took a seat before anyone allowed him to and asked, "What do you want?"
"Tch. Young people these days don't have any manners. How could you sit down before your elders." Wolfheim angrily said.
"Heh, I thought our hierarchy as Wizard Saints is decided by power." Ben chuckled.
"That is all the more reason to respect us with higher ranks and power." Wolfheim said.
"I agree about the ranks part, but power is another matter." Ben replied with a smirk before releasing his magic power.
He aimed his magic power at the 2 old men who's eyes widened in surprise. Ben kept increasing the magic power he released and both of them start sweating. A moment later, both fell to their knees because they can't withstand the release of Ben's magic power which kept increasing.
Ben looked down at them with a cold gaze and said, "I haven't even used my full power, yet you have knelled powerlessly. The Gods of Ishgar aren't that much, huh? Such a disappointment. I thought that you would have been able to hold on a little longer. Are you sure you're the 2nd and 3rd strongest mages in Ishgar."
"Y-you...w-what is...?" Draculos couldn't even finish his question.
"I am a father, a husband, a brother, a friend, a Fairy Tail mage and a Wizard Saint, Ben Cooper. Also, I was the man who defeated 4 dragons in Fiore's capital and fought Acnologia twice while you just sat on your comfy couches." Ben said before he stopped releasing his magic power.
The 2 old men can finally breathe normally and Draculos asked in a terrified tone. "Why would you stay silent with that level of power? You can easily become a God of Ishgar and challenge God Serena."
"Why? Because I never cared about that position. If not for the sake of protecting my guild, I would've never become a Wizard Saint. Ranks and positions like the Ten Wizard Saints, Four Gods of Ishgar or even a king are worthless to me. That's why I could care less about advancing in rank. Although I want to fight God Serena as a fellow Dragon Slayer and the chance will come soon." Ben said with a smirk.
"Are you challenging God Serena?" Draculos asked with a surprised tone.
"Challenging him? Hah, I've done it many times but he never accepted for unknown reasons. But soon, he won't be able to refuse anymore." Ben said.
"Why's that?" Wolfheim asked.
"Don't ask me how I got this information, but the Alvarez Empire contacted him and he agreed to join them." Ben answered.
"Don't tell anyone else about this, I'll deal with him personally. He, who is referred to as the strongest on this continent with eight Dragon Slayer Magics against me who slayed dragons. I wonder which one of us is stronger." Ben said before standing up and leaving the shocked old men alone.
He was very excited to fight God Serena and fowl up Zeref's plan. Those two will be his stepping stones and help him become stronger for his next battle with Acnologia.