I'm a realist.
And then she regresses all those traits from ToH later on lmao.
Lucy however has never been stagnant. She continously grows and grows throughout every arc. PH is far the only arc either as there is the OS arc, Edolas arc, Tenrou arc, GMG arc, Tartarus arc, and Alvarez arc. Even the current 100YQ is still developing her.
Let's turn back and see where Lucy develops each arc. PH arc is where she learns the true value of family and the lengths they will go for you. ToH Lucy forges a new bond with Juvia and showing Juvia that she is family. Loke arc was another mini arc where Lucy stood up to the King of Celestials who can stop freaking time. She puts herself on the line to show the CSK that his rules were indeed wrong and there needs to be rules to protect Celestials from horrible owners. Edolas is where Lucy is put in the seat of the protag and must protect those she loves. It's really where her mental apptitude shines as she beats a main baddy without the use of CS magic. Tenrou is where Lucy and Cana forge a bond of trust and respect. This where Lucy finds out out abput Gild being Cana father and connects to Cana bcs she knows what it feels like to be neglected by her parent. If Lucy wasn't there for Cana and helped guide her as friend then Cana wouldn't of had the guts to tell Gild that he was her father. We then see in her fight with Kainen that Lucy is also ready to sacrifice everything for Natsu and Happy. She could easy run and leave Natsu, but she stands her ground despite the beating she takes.
Let's run over to the GMG where Lucy could easily have taken Yukino keys, but doesn't bcs she realize they have a bond and she forgoes her dream of getting all the CS keys due to the bond they have with Yukino.
Tartarus is where Lucy is the man standing to face off against Tartarus. Does she waver no? Instead she fights back against the overwhelming odds and is forced to separate from her longest friend, Aquarius.
She sacrifices her bond to save the entire guild from being killed. Lucy as continously learned throughout this manga as learned sacrifice and family in many different forms. Lucy from the beginning to Alvarez is a modified character. She goes from a scared run away to a season veteran ready to lay her life on the line for everyone but herself. In Alvarez we notice this as she shows off her amazing analysis skills to deduce the best outcome for each situation. She doesn't let her thoughts and insecurities effect the mission in front of her. This is highlighted when she puts the reconstruction of the guild over her negative feelings towards Natsu for abondoning her. It is further highlighted in her fights with Brandish and Jacob where she goes 1v1 against S12 with no hesitation or fear. She knows what needs to be done and will do it by any means necessary. In the fight with Jacob she easily deduces counters the enemies strongest attack with the enemies own allies special move. Lucy witt and determination is why the guild wasn't merked by Jacob. Lucy is not the offensive powerhouse, but she makes up the difference by being a strategical powerhouse. This Lucy and the one from the beginning are vastly different characters. The only thing they have in common is the core elements of Lucy's character. Even while she is strapped to a chair with magic sealing cuffs on and has knife two inches away from her eye, she stares down a woman who manipulates time. Her determination and courage never wavers in the face of adversity.
Unlike Erza, Lucy never regresses as a character, she only ever moves forwards. She never faces the same damn thing. Look in the current chapter! Erza being cocky af when facing off against freaking Laxus. Has this girl not learned one thing? In Alvarez she easily sides with Natsu to go off and face Zeref which her stupid ass blind faith in Natsu almost gets him killed. Who looks after him when he comes back f-ed up? It's Lucy. She also hyped up Natsu like he can solo Acno.... Lmfao this chick right here is arrogant of herself and Natsu's power.
Lucy is by the far the most developed character and Erza who's only development is ToH which is meh at this point.
You don't have to count fights, but that's where characters flaws and traits are highlighted and we either see them overcome them logically or with bs.