With technology advancing so quickly, the human population of Oaisis kept growing.
Human kingdoms that had once had little contact with the territories of other races—the Dwarves and Gnomes—had expanded until they bordered them.
There were no Elves left in Oaisis. A thousand years ago, the last Elven tribe had chosen to leave the world. Crystals might not damage the environment as much as oil, but humans were cutting down trees everywhere, mining, and clearing land for farms. The Elves felt the world was no longer fit for them.
For humans, green mountains and clear waters always came after survival and progress.
And Elves, who had never faced a struggle for survival and could easily find everything they needed in nature, could never understand the urgency felt by short-lived races.
This low-magic world was also too confining for Elves accustomed to freedom. Hill could understand why they had left without looking back.
The Dwarves, skilled at mining, and the Gnomes, skilled at making things, had done well. Neither race was as numerous as humans, but each had a population of several million.
Their innate advantages meant a few million Dwarves could easily stand against tens of millions of humans. With plenty of energy resources, humans had no intention of fighting other races to the death.
Unlike the other races, who could find groundwater and liked living in the mountains, human kingdoms depended on rivers and seas. That made wars between them more likely.
So every country, whether at war or at peace, took its military seriously and paid close attention to its defenses.
Their strength was much the same, too. The weak countries had long since been annexed. As a result, espionage flourished in this world.
Commercial and state spies were everywhere, and the assassination business was thriving as well.