Why is there talk about God Serena having Dragon Force? Only First and Second Generations have the ability, Serena is a Third Gen.
Nothing has implied that being human has placed a cap on growth rate in the series nor does anything imply it's impossible to high a much higher growth rate than other.
That would make no sense. Imagine if the human that could lift most weight was 1500 kg, and the second was 400 kg, and the third 397, and the fourth 393, etc. Makes sense? no, right? Well that's the same.
Now imagine these 4 humans train for one year and his results vary: now the first oen can lift 7000 kg, the second one can lift 403 kg, the third 400, etc.
Do you get my point?
Face it Natsu is not only apart of the main cast but he is also the main male lead, his growth rate is going to be exceptional.
There must be believable limits for everything. I like Natsu and I like that he has this amazing power, what I don't like is how soon and unexpectedly he got it. It would have been better if this was his prime/final power, but with this growth rate, if he trains for a couple of years he can probably destroy the universe.
How can three humans with exceptional growth rate have gathered in one guild? Because the plot demanded it, the majority of strong Ishgar mages have always dawned from FT, at this point, you're refusing to accept something that has been made PERFECTLY CLEAR.
Uhh... no. Both Erza and Gray became mages at a very young ages, when their potentials were still unpredictable. And, oh, they happen to have immeasurable potential, just like Natsu's. In one year they top the most powerful mage of a continent... well excuse me if I'm reluctant to believe it's sooo sound.
I will repeat it once again the Grand Magic Mages drills this thought into our head, everyone from FT literally closes a 7-year gap in growth within the space of 3 months.
Yeah that was something else hard to believe, but it was "covered" better (the second origin release, very very hard training, etc. etc.). Still, Jellal, who in seven years improved probably 2x, now in one year seems to have improved 7x. Again, nonsense.
It's still reasonable now or did you think they wouldn't grow fast enough to put up a fight to the upcoming threat.
What Mashima should've done is not to boost and hype the enemies so much. Like puting them leagues above Makarov, him being afraid of them, claiming no FT member could beat them, etc. etc.
Them being able to top Ishgar's top mages has been coming and it's not even surprising seeing how Fairy Tail since they start of the manga has always been one of or Ishagr's top guild.
Being the most powerful guild as a whole is something, but members of the guild topping the most powerful members of a continent at such a young age, and becoming the most powerful mages of even the world is too ambitious to be credible if you ask me. If achieved just by training, that is. If powerups come from somewhere else, the likes of second origin release, it's another thing. Look at Naruto, who surpassed the First Hokage only because the rikudou gave him that power. "Granted or given" powerups are believable, in the sense you cannot claim that it's unthinkable that they improved that much because they showed you how they were given certain powress. Unlike training, where your own merits play the whole role.
Just because there is the possibility people have really high growth rates doesn't mean a lot of people outside the MAIN CAST will have that type of growth rate. You really don't get the benefit of being a main character.
But just look at Laxus' or Jellal's growth rate. They seem to have a multiplier similar to that of Natsu's or Gray's, and they're not main cast. Things just got out of hand.
Second Origin put them on par with the guild mates who had trained for months and those guildmates had just overtaken a bunch of over people who had been training for 7 years. You're complaining Mira got a reasonable power up but she had surpassed most mages with a 7 year gap on her.....
More than half of the mages that they fought were as old as they were when they went to Tenrou. That's something to take into account, too.
There are exceptions like Lyon, for example. He was training for 7 years to make up for a second origin release (equivalent to a three-month training) and still was slightly below or on par with Gray. However now his growth rate seems to have ridiculously become as big as his, since Alvarez Lyon should be slightly below or on par with Base Gray.
Serena showed half of his Dragon Slaying elements and even got carried away while doing so, the fact the spells had low AoE means nothing, attack potency is a thing you know.
You don't seem to grasp the concept of getting carried away vs going all out.
Not really an opinion Hiro has drilled into our heads that the Spirggans, for the most part. are on the same general level.
They also drilled into our heads that the GoI were gods far away from Jura's capabilities and, hey, look at that. It's clear that there are tiers among the spriggans, appart from the already mentioned top tiers August and Irene. There are high, mid and low tiers.
Now, for those who'd argue Serena can eat Natsu's fire, let me point out that Serena hasn't got any evidence of being able to eat elements, and that if he could eat them, I'd ask you why he didn't eat Jura's rockiron fist to power up his Cavern Dragon attack. Its clear from this that he can't eat elements, and by the same logic, being unable to eat elements means Serena could have no resistance to any elements either.
If all DS, never mind their generation, have been proven to be able to eat elements; why would you assume he can't? Because he didn't? There may be more reasons as to why he didn't, don't you think? You claim "he didn't shown any resistance to the attack either". Maybe because he didn't want to (he was testing the extent of their powers). After all, he came out without a scratch so it's rather clear the attack damaged him as much as a toddler would damage you with his fists...
As for Natsu's Dragon Force, he's shown it in previous arcs so of course he can use it. Dragon Force is generally said to triple a Dragon Slayer's power at least, so if you consider that Base Natsu was able to destroy a war god with a Flame Dragon King's Demolition Fist and essentially one-shot a Spriggan with the same attack when he was serious (he was in FDKM for the Jacob bit but you get my point), then imagine that power being tripled. Its an incredible amount of power to be dishing out, and it'd overwhelm Serena easily.
He showed it but there must be an external factor (eating something special / emotional-triggered), it cannot be awakened at will. So in a 1 VS 1 battle, Natsu wouldn't be able to use it unless he's gained control over its access. And since we don't know, let's assume he cannot use it, just like Serena can't.
Also, Natsu didn't one shot him. One shot implies that only one attack defeats an opponent. There was a battle prior to that, a lot of people intervened, and Natsu used his strongest move to end the battle. There was not just "one shot".
And let me remind you Natsu couldn't beat Jacob on a 1 vs 1 battle because of his hax. Natsu could just go one on one against the likes of Neinhart, I don't see him defeating any other Spriggan. Maybe God Serena as some of you claim.
No matter how you slice it, defeating a spriggan is still more impressive than defeating three featless "gods" of ishgal and jura.
I agree, and there's where the disappointment lies. I mean you cannot simply raise someone's hype to the clouds and get them defeated so easily. Imagine if now the GoI went to Larcade and defeated him. What could we possibly say about that? That, effectively, the Spriggans have tiers.
As for the defensive argument, the Gods of Ishgal are featless when it comes to them being 'strong'. Warrod has previously said its just a title, and they couldn't hold a candle to their fellow God of Ishgal, Serena.
If we're going to judge what he said, let me remind you Erza also claimed he was being extremely humble, and he was an amazing mage. Also, he only has a couple of feats that involve a tree growing VERY rapidly. Imagine getting a direct hit by that tree, or if it had edges or a sharp tip.