The next day, Ben went to where the competition was being held. A big arena was constructed there and it was surrounded by a tall wall. Ben was sure it wasn't there yesterday, so it must've been built last night using magic.
He is right because when he met Jura, the man told him that the Council asked Jura to make it. It's just a temporary arena, but Jura made it as strong as possible because it will hold battles between mages that are Wizard Saint caliber.
Sometime later, Ben was called to wait on the north side of the arena. The other 3 will wait on the other sides of the arena. Jura also constructed waiting rooms for the competitors and rooms for the audience. He took construction of the arena seriously.
In the waiting room, Ben just lounging around while reading some magic books that A.I Chip scanned. He wasn't worried one bit about the upcoming battle. He was confident with his strength even against Wizard Saints.
Well, he knew he surpassed Makarov, a strong Wizard Saint. Ignoring the 4 Gods of Ishgar, Makarov is one of the strongest Wizard Saints. Ben, who had already surpassed the old man, didn't need to worry about these candidates.
The only Wizard Saints he should remotely be concerned about were the 4 Gods of Ishgar. It's said their powers defy common sense. But Ben never met them in person or scanned their power levels, so he had no idea if it was true.
Ben really wanted to know just how high those people who claimed themselves to be gods are. He will acknowledge them as gods if their power surpassed Acnologia. But the possibility of that happening is 0.0000...1%, A.I Chip was the one who calculated it so it must be true.
"Well, if they are that strong, then the Alvarez Empire wouldn't dare try to invade our country a few years ago. I don't believe that Empire would dare to challenge people at Acnologia's level. It would just destroy their empire instead." Ben said.
Ben continued reading books for a while until his name was called. The competition will start so he needed to get to the arena. He followed the guide there and saw just how big and wide the arena was.
"It sure is tough." He commented after inspecting the ground.
He can sense how tough the ground was. Jura has a lot of skill with Earth Magic if he could create such a tough environment. It would take some effort for him to destroy the environment, not to mention normal mages, they might not be able to even scratch it.
While Ben inspected his surroundings, 3 more people come out of the other 3 sides. They are the other candidates for the Wizard Saint position. There are 2 men and a woman who look like they're in their 30s. Compared to them, Ben is still very young.
'Hmm, I guess it's more normal for people their age to become Wizard Saints. Jura is actually still young for a Wizard Saint which means he has a lot of talent. Hmm, if I become a Wizard Saint, won't I be the youngest?' Ben mentally asked himself before his attention shifted to the other 3 candidates.
They all look at him with prying eyes, trying to judge his strength. He is the reason this competition is being held, and he is still young. Such a young candidate actually made them wary because that meant he had a lot of power at his young age.
Also, Ben is very famous now after the incident on Tenrou Island. As one of the only 3 who survived the incident, people think that they are either very lucky or very tough so the 3 candidates were curious about him.
'It seems they aren't the Magic Council's dogs. I thought the Council prepared these three so they can remove me. But it seems these three are really Wizard Saint candidates who met the qualification to be one. Still, I'm not going to change my plan.' Ben thought.
Ben looked around to see several Council officials and Wizard Saints. 2 of the 4 Gods of Ishgar also arrive. They are Wolfheim and Warrod who watch from a rather close spot together.
Ben looks at Warrod who looked back at him. Warrod was a Fairy Tail mage, a friend of Mavis the 1st master and Precht the 2nd master. He must have something in mind regarding what happened on Tenrou Island.
'I don't know which side he chooses now. He can on our side, Precht's side, the Magic Council's side or he might remain neutral. I won't do anything and won't approach him first. If he wants to talk to me, he needs to come to me first.' Ben thought.
Then suddenly, 2 big screens appear beside Wolfheim and Warrod. On the screens, the faces of the other 2 Gods of Ishgar appear. They are God Serena and Draculos, the 1st and 2nd ranked Wizard Saints.
Most people murmur because they were surprised that God Serena made an appearance even if it was virtual. He rarely came to a event like this so it was quite surprising. Only a few people knew that he would watch this match, so most of them are surprised.
God Serena was watching the match because he was interested in Ben. Just like Ben, he is also a Dragon Slayer, but he was an artificial one. He had 8 lacrima implanted in his body to use 8 types of Dragon Slayer Magic.
Ben looked at God Serena.
'God Serena, a rather arrogant man to add the word God to his name. If I was a lot less powerful than I am right now I would acknowledge him as one. But after witnessing Acnologia's power first hand, I will never call him a god. Unless he can defeat Acnologia with a flick, he'll never be a god. I'm not sure how strong he is, but I doubt he's as strong as Acnologia. He just has the power of 8 dragons within him while Acnologia killed countless dragons. 8 is a low number.' He thought.
Ben had no idea what kind of Dragon Slayer Magic God Serena had. If they were strong, then God Serena might stand a chance against Acnologia.
'The only superior types of Dragon Slayer Magic that I know of are mine and Natsu's. Escanor was an Ancient Dragon God while Igneel was the Fire Dragon King. That meant Escanor was stronger than almost all dragons while Igneel was stronger than all fire dragons. Unless God Serena's Dragon Slayer Magic was around Igneel's level, then he won't stand a chance.' Ben thought.
Ben's attention returned to the battle when the host called out to everyone. The battle was about to start so he got everyone's attention. Ben went to his spot while preparing for it.
The 4 candidates stand on 4 sides of the square arena. Then several barriers were erected around the arena. A battle between 4 mages of Wizard Saint caliber could cause a catastrophe, so they need to use barriers to prevent it.
"Barriers? These are unnecessary." The man on the west side commented.
"I agree. They will be destroyed when the battle starts." The man on the east side replied.
"Don't underestimate them. They were erected with consideration of our power." The woman said.
"Heh, I wonder about that." The first man snorted.
"None of you need to worry about that. Even without the barriers, there won't be a lot of destruction." Ben said.
"What do you mean kid?" The 2nd man asked.
"Easy, all 3 of you will be defeated by me before there's too much damage. That's why I agree that the barriers are unnecessary." Ben said with a smirk, looking down on the other 3.
"Huh? What did you say, you brat?" The woman angrily asked.
"I said you're all weak, you old hag." Ben stated while arrogantly spreading his arms out.
His statement pissed the other 3 off and they want to beat him up. Ben just smirked haughtily while extending his hand to taunt them even further. This battle wouldn't interesting without some spice.