Excessive Luxury

Now that Atma, the Shape of Balance, was known by all the Espers, it became much easier for Esperia to grow in harmony with nature and the Five Elements.
Though it was difficult to accept for many—especially those who had long enjoyed a life of excessive luxury because of their wealth.

For some, the revelation of the StarDust was a harsh awakening to the reality they had been missing, ever since they had stopped nurturing their own StarDust.

The magical light born at the end of the Chaos War resonated with the inner StarDust within each of them, also revealing their inner Shadow—visible only when the StarDust shines brightly enough.

“How is it that we were so blind to what was right before our eyes…” was a feeling shared by many of the Espers when they began to perceive how they had truly been behaving.

“There is no shame in acting blindly when you are not aware,” said Eklea, the Shape of Awareness.

“If you don’t know, you don’t know. Our StarDust does not shine on its own, and we simply did not understand that,” continued Vati, the Shape of Wisdom.

“But now that we know, and now that we have Atma to guide us, it is our responsibility to live accordingly,” added Faya, the Shape of Willpower.

Want to share?


Comments

Leave a Reply


Our latest tales

  • Making Choices

    Making Choices

    The civilization of the Espers had changed greatly. For millennia, they had influenced nature, the soil, mountains, rivers, seas, and all the surrounding ecosystems. Access to more food, one of their fundamental needs, had profoundly changed their ways of life, which, little by little, had transformed their civilization into the one we now knew. The…

    Read more

  • Nature Has No Price

    Nature Has No Price

    The functioning of Esper society was based on a simple concept, but one that was now causing a serious problem: nature has no price. The Espers had freely taken control of the land, rivers, and seas, without ever needing to provide anything in return. For decades, recent technologies had also begun to reach the skies:…

    Read more

  • The Collective Shadow

    The Collective Shadow

    The Espers had something special and powerful when they acted as a group. Relationships of trust allowed cultures and ideas to be exchanged, and had greatly contributed to the development of their society. But while the StarDust allowed the Shadow within each Esper to be revealed, this intriguing ability of the Espers to unite in…

    Read more

  • Learning to Listen to Your Shadow

    Learning to Listen to Your Shadow

    The post-Chaos War was a new world where the Espers around the world now had to learn to listen to their Shadow. It was an easier task for those who had already made a habit of listening to themselves and taking time for themselves, without the futile distractions that allow them to kill time. For…

    Read more

  • Knowledge Is Not Innate

    Knowledge Is Not Innate

    The world before the Chaos War appeared, on the surface, to bear the signs of one of the most modern and advanced civilizations. Magic had enabled the development of technologies that would have seemed like sorcery to the ancestors of the Espers. But although the world as a whole had modernized, every new Esper still…

    Read more

  • Daily balance

    Daily balance

    Since her birth, Atma, the Shape of Balance, had found in Shala, the Shape of Time, an almost motherly figure. The two were very close and often appeared together, which was a boon for the Espers. For both were representations of abstract concepts that were sometimes difficult to remember or understand, so seeing them together…

    Read more

  • The Power of Habits

    The Power of Habits

    By understanding how deeply habits were the anchor of their own lives, the Espers had realized that they could change many things simply through habit. The power of habits seemed almost magical. Step by step, little by little, what had seemed impossible at first suddenly became possible, even easy. And by following the few principles…

    Read more

  • Learning to Know Your Shadow

    Learning to Know Your Shadow

    Before the revelation of the StarDust to everyone, the presence within each Esper of a Shadow of their own had sometimes been glimpsed, suspected, or felt, but never had it been so easy to perceive. It was therefore a new experience for many, intriguing, surprising, sometimes even difficult and trying, but always real. For this…

    Read more