What is aging? Scientifically, it is the erosion of cells to the point where they can no longer duplicate.
Eventually, it leads to organ failures and death—at least, that is the common occurrence in most worlds.
However, in Peaceland, aging has nothing to do with cells. Even if modern and advanced civilizations halt cell deterioration, people still die. The world's laws determine death, and mortals cannot stop it.
The only way to extend lifespan is to advance and become a mage, but this path is currently closed.
Savior plans to spread the ways of mages' cultivation later.
From the beginning until now, nobody has died of old age. Young people have no idea what age even is; only the original group vaguely remembers what aging is.
Many have begun to panic, researching desperately to find ways to survive.
Mortals sold by Alive have no set lifespan; it entirely depends on the world.
Savior decided to re-enable lifespan because humans reached a reasonable degree of development. However, he still hasn't reactivated the lifespan for elves and Plantpeople.
Plantpeople are slower, so their population is still tiny.
Elves have stuck to their original place without expanding much.
Additionally, elves usually have low fertility, resulting in a small population.
Beastpeople are the most fertile, so despite initially having fewer populations than humans, they are now more populous.
At the moment, no species has collided with one another, and even if they do, it will likely go well because they are peaceful—at least, this is what Savior hopes happens.
...
In Origin City, Dan started stabilizing the situation as much as possible, though he himself was not much better off than others.
Having lived for 10,000 years, he now faced the prospect of dying in less than a century. Who would willingly accept such a fate?
Nevertheless, he had no choice.
Thus, he pretended to be fine and began assisting his City and family in coping with the new reality. Simultaneously, he pondered over who could succeed him.
The Origin Empire currently comprises more than 50% of the human population, at least in this continent. Scientists theorize the existence of other humans on different continents.
Regardless, the leader of Origin Empire serves as the de facto leader of all, at least here. Even cities not directly part of the Origin Empire adhere to its orders.
Who could lead the City in his stead? With the necessity to choose a new leader every few decades, could the Origin City endure?
Dan mostly cares about Origin City; as for Origin Empire, he cares only a bit.
After much contemplation, Dan made a decision.
The one-lifetime leader system needed to be revised. Placing their reliance on a single person who changes every few decades is no longer feasible.
Consequently, he began contemplating a new system.
...
Year 10050
Savior monitored the situation carefully and changed his mind.
Contrary to his expectations, humans weren't ready for longevity. If he proceeded with the current situation, it would be an unmitigated disaster, wreaking havoc and potentially destroying the entire human population.
Re-enabling longevity at once would be horrible.
Therefore, he decided to change his approach.
In short, his solution was to reintroduce longevity but with a limit set at 10,000 years.
As a result, the original humans would start dying, having already reached the 10,000-year limit, but most would survive since they were born much later.
This way, the impact would be mitigated, and skilled individuals could continue for some time.
Savior implemented this change only for humans, as Beastpeople had AI, making the impact on them much softer.
At most, the suggestion council would give bad suggestions, but the situation will work out with AI controlling things.
Savior set the lifespan of Beastpeople between 100 to 150 years and humans between 10,000 to 10,025 years.
He also changed the rule so that with each passing day, the total lifespan of newborn humans decreased by one day. For example, a baby born in the year 11,000 would have a 9,000-year lifespan, and a human born in the year 19,000 would have a 1,000-year lifespan.
This way, by the year 20,000, everyone would have the default lifespan of 100 to 125 years unless Savior introduced mages.
He is leaning towards introducing mages sooner than originally planned.
Nowadays, Savior travels from City to City, enjoying a peaceful adventure, but still, most of his attention is on the world, ready to jump into action to prevent disaster.
He understood humans aren't ready by looking at many human settlements on many continents.
He is waiting for a suitable time for mages.
He doesn't want to disrupt things too much, so he has to introduce mages carefully. He doesn't want a world where mages look down on everyone.
He absolutely despises such worlds.
...
Year 10080
Dan took his last breath and passed away.
As the leader who guided Origin City for thousands of years, his death sent shockwaves throughout the continent.
Surprisingly, things continued far better than many had expected.
Only a few, particularly the very old humans, began to age and die.
Those who passed away had the most influence within the City, and their deaths paved the way for others to assume power.
However, a seniority advantage still existed.
Individuals with thousands of years of leadership experience won the now-vacant positions, and things continued relatively smoothly.
Before his death, Dan had made careful considerations in choosing his successor.
First and foremost, he ruled out complete democracy, holding a low opinion of its effectiveness in the long term.
In his view, democracy worked well in the short term, but over time, democratic cities tended to deteriorate.
He believed it was best to let experts govern.
Nevertheless, he did incorporate some democratic institutions.
Dan had an open mind; although he disliked democracy, many people insisted on it, so he designed a system that included democracy.
He didn't think just about one generation; he tried to set up a system that could survive for generations.
The biggest threat is corruption.
The ruling class may become corrupt and start stealing from the public.
To guard against this nightmare scenario, he established a system that could not be changed—a constitution with two main branches.
The elected branch and the expert branch.
The elected branch consisted of a legislature of 1000 people, an elected executive, and an elected judiciary.
The expert branch mirrored the elected system but comprised individuals chosen through meritocracy from the best and brightest universities.
The elected branch would govern half of the City, and the expert council would control the other half.
The Observer Council oversees both branches and oversees all military and police power.
The council comprised seven experts and seven elected members. In case of a tie, the side with more experts would prevail.
The Observer Council observes for 20 years, and whichever side performed better would rule the other side for the next 80 years.
Dan designed this competition-based government system to encourage elected and expert governments to strive for excellence and avoid corruption.
To add more checks and balances, Dan implemented additional measures.
If the expert and elected governments agreed on an Observer Council member's unsuitability, that member would be removed.
An independent spy agency investigates everyone for corruption, with another spy agency exclusively overseeing the first spy agency.
Finally, an independent court system exclusively for prosecuting corruption.
While this system introduced bureaucracy, Dan believed it was worth it.
With these preparations in place, things continued to function smoothly even after Dan's death.
With no one holding too much power, each branch kept the other in check, maintaining stability and order.
...
Year 13,000
Things went well in Origin City, but not for other cities.
The system that Dan designed was exclusively for Origin City.
In contrast, the governments in charge of other cities began to experience failure.
The Minister of Interior from Origin City was responsible for governing other cities, but despite its efforts, it failed to bring about significant change for other cities. The other cities had too much autonomy, and the minister couldn't micromanage everything.
As experienced managers of those cities continued to pass away, more and more cities started to fail.
However, not all of them met the same fate.
There are still many successful cities, and all rich and prosperous cities have become destinations for migrants.
In Origin City, experts often won the government, but there were occasions when the elected government emerged victorious.
Fortunately, the Observer Council functioned well in maintaining balance.
However, the most significant news is the recent appearance of strange individuals with unique powers.
These people referred to themselves as mages and could perform incredible feats.
...
In the year 13,000, Savior finally introduced mages.
However, he implemented limitations in various directions.
First, he completely overhauled the mage system, disregarding the rank system and instituting a level system.
Levels ranged from 1 to 99, with levels 1 through 9 equating to apprentice mages, 10 through 19 to rank 1, 20 through 29 to rank 2, and so forth.
Mages must adhere to mortal laws, facing a ban on leveling up if they fail to do so.
With each level gained, they receive additional years of lifespan equal to the number of their level x10.
For example, breaking through to level 9 grants 90 years of lifespan, while breaking through to level 80 bestows 800 years.
Various methods exist for leveling up, such as using pills and completing specific tasks that occasionally appear.
The mages that appeared in Origin City did not disrupt anything; in fact, they began helping to solve many problems that mortals couldn't resolve.
Soon, everyone began to like the mages, and they wished to become one.
The government introduced a mage talent test, and many academies exclusively for mages began to be built.
...
Year 15,000
Today, in the entire Origin Empire, mages dominate.
They have gradually taken over the most important management positions in both elected and expert governments, and their dominance is increasing day by day.
However, unlike mages in other worlds who don't care about mortals, mages here actively assist mortals and are very down to earth.
Your neighbor may be a level 20 mage!
Anyone familiar with the situation in other worlds would be astonished.
Savior is happy about the current situation; the harmony between mages and mortals is his dream.
...
Year 20,000
Today, the lifespan of humans ranges from 100 to 125 years.
The transition went smoothly, and nothing catastrophic happened.
City leaders are now almost exclusively mages.
Origin City and other human settlements are thriving.
Elves remain isolated, but things are progressing well, with some expansion and exploration.
Plantpeople and Beastpeople are also thriving with their advanced cultures, with AI serving as the chief executive in their civilizations. While mages are part of the Suggestion Council, they aren't the leaders.
Dragons continued with their dragon activities.
The world is vast.
Despite all mortals expanding for 20,000 years, none have yet met each other.
Savior predicts that, given mortals' current speed, it will take at least a million years for them to encounter each other.
One should not underestimate the size of a rank 11 world with 10 complete laws.
With all the basic matters settled, Savior no longer needs to be on edge. He can now divert his attention to adventure, perhaps finding a romantic partner in this peaceful world.
Honestly, Savior isn't planning on leaving here anytime soon.
The wild situation outside pains his spirit, and he appreciates the peacefulness here.
He still wishes that the universe was like this—peaceful and harmonious.