Is There Really a Need?

The period of abundance brought about by the massive and limitless use of magic had come to an end.

Not by choice, as might have happened if the Espers had managed to agree on difficult questions, such as the consequences of their actions on Aether, the planet’s source of life, or the inequalities caused by an increasingly materialistic and individualistic society.

The War of Chaos had been the culmination of the destruction of the ecosystem in which they nevertheless lived.

Reconstruction would be far more difficult for many to accept, but also simpler in one sense: there was no longer any choice.

The essential question of whether or not there was a need to create new things, which should have served the interests of the Espers and their future, was insignificant compared with the gargantuan excesses of those who had benefited from the abundance made possible by magic.

Yet, by returning to the fundamentals, each Esper could delight in the presence of the beings dear to them each day and share peaceful moments, surrounded by the nature that provided them with the resources essential to their survival.