The main reason is, that guy is just too tanky.
Many Rinnegan abilities don't take an energy form, like Bansho Ten'in and Shinra Tensei. So they're sharp weapons against Acnologia, but the cost is huge and the single-target damage is limited.
No wonder Zeref, even after obtaining the Fairy Heart, only thought about running away. Even the Alvarez Empire was fooled by him.
"The Fairy Heart…"
If I were the one who got the fairy heart…
"Forget it. Stop day-dreaming and train."
Takeshi sat cross-legged, circulating Sun Breathing with total focus.
Though it came from a low-tier world, the technique could turn the crudest stone into gold.
Besides training his physique, he noticed his magic power was also climbing—probably because he absorbed ambient magic particles, letting his magic origin grow.
The discovery thrilled him. Until now, the system had been his only way to boost magic power.
In the Fairy Tail world, there actually is a similar method called Meditation: feel everything through your skin, breathe in sync with it, and direct your magic power.
Another way is to cast spells non-stop. The repeated casting raises your capacity, and when your magic power is exhausted and refills, the upper limit inches up.
All roads lead to the same peak, yet Sun Breathing compared with those two is like the gap between a novice gear and a legendary gear.
After all, Sun Breathing improves him every second. The gain is tiny, but over time it snowballs. That's why he could still advance even when the EXP gained from recycling character cards was next to nothing.
Soon, his magic power was back.
With Sun Breathing, the recovery speed was frightening—another big plus.
While breathing, Takeshi sorted every character's combat experience in his mind.
Gold characters—each a one-in-a-million master. Every scrap of their battle memory was priceless.
...
Takeshi returned to the seaside.
The guild members had finished training for the day, and after a big meal, everyone headed for the hot springs to unwind.
"Takeshi, how did you get so strong so fast?" Gray asked, curious.
They all remembered that when Takeshi first joined, his magic power had been pitifully low, yet in the blink of an eye, it soared. They hadn't thought much about it before, but now that they were training hard, they wanted a shortcut too.
Takeshi spread his hands helplessly. "Sorry, I can't help. My magic power seems tied to how many Heroic Spirits I receive. The more I get, the stronger I become."
Half true, half false.
More character cards did raise his magic power, but they weren't gained by getting the characters but by recycling them.
"That's basically cheating!"
The group was dumbfounded.
The more Heroic spirits Takeshi had in his arsenal, the higher his magic power—no wonder his growth was explosive.
"It's not that easy. Summoning Heroic Spirits is tough. With luck, you'll get a few powerhouses, but with bad luck you can draw blanks for months."
Thinking of the coming three months of zero gains, Takeshi felt helpless.
"Still totally broken."
"Especially the one that turns into the giant fox—awesome!" Natsu's eyes blazed.
That transformation was so strong that just remembering it made him tremble with excitement.
Takeshi said, "You'll be that strong too."
Natsu is the anime's main character, his power will keep climbing.
"Really? Then I've gotta train harder!" Natsu felt motivation flood his entire body.
—
Lamia Scale.
"We only ever place second in the Grand Magic Games! It's absurd and ridiculous!"
"You're all treating this year like any other, right?! Well, we won't let that happen again!"
"Lyon! Jura! You two are competing this time!"
Guild Master Ooba spun in circles, grumbling in dissatisfaction.
"Fine. I hear Fairy Tail's entering this year. Time to see what seven years of training has achieved." Lyon said with relish.
Usually he found the Grand Magic Games pointless—winning first place meant nothing without Fairy Tail in the field.
But now, Fairy Tail was back and joining. The meaning of first place had changed.
"Since Takeshi-dono is taking part, I don't mind either. Besides, joining a festival now and then isn't bad." Jura smiled.
Seven years had made him calmer and more composed. He used to skip partly out of disinterest and partly because his presence felt unfair.
With Fairy Tail competing, his participation made sense. After all, seven years ago Takeshi had single-handedly crushed Oración Seis and destroyed Nirvana in one blow. Even today, that power would place him at the very top.
Were it not for the Magic Council's bias, Takeshi would already rank among the Ten Wizard Saints.
"Lyon and Jura are entering this year?!"
"We've got this in the bag!"
"Lamia Scale is the best!"
The whole guild erupted in excitement.
—
Blue Pegasus.
"Hmm… did you hear? Fairy Tail's entering this Grand Magic Games." Bob said to Ichiya.
"Tha—that's a dreadful stench."
Ichiya still remembered that monster Takeshi—absurdly strong seven years ago, and still a monster today.
Bob continued, "Besides that, Lamia Scale's Jura is joining too."
"Ugh… the stench just got worse."
Over these seven years Jura had leapt from the bottom ranks to fifth among the Ten Wizard Saints—far stronger than before.
Takeshi's might is monstrous, but Jura is no less formidable. Ordinary people can't compare to either of them.
"Looks like we'll have to step it up."
News of Fairy Tail's participation in the Grand Magic Games swept across the Kingdom of Fiore.
To most, Fairy Tail was a has-been, nothing special now. But those who knew the guild couldn't help paying attention.
In the blink of an eye, three months quietly passed.