Free Heartbreaker by Carmelo Massimo Tidona Page A

that – in a world in which dragons were no longer sitting on treasure mounds, but on the presidential chair of some import-export company – the secrecy and confidentiality aura surrounding their practices had completely lost sense, had started crafting small magic artifacts to be sold to the larger public to provide to some everyday need. In a short time, what till then had been an arcane art for a few selected people, had changed into a business which turnover had hugely increased over a relatively short period of time. New schools of magic had been established, where apprentices were trained to specific tasks, such as replicating artifacts to allow mass production. Magical research had taken paths as yet ignored, having always been deemed of scarce practical value, that in the light of the new opening to the outside world had suddenly earned a primary importance. That had been the so called Magic Revolution, which soon led everyone to possess at least one artifact making their life easier. Light-generating items, available in an almost endless range, replaced torches and lanterns, just like old fireplaces and heaters were replaced by new models which could create flames or even just heat with no need of anything to burn. In time, magic had extended to any and all part of everyday life – traveling, information, communications – allowing common people to do things that not so long before were unthinkable, or seen as incredible wonders. It had gradually become common and available to anyone. Basic courses of practical magic and other no-longer-mysterious arts had been added to the plans of the main schools, mainly to select more gifted people which would be able to start a career in that field.
    The quality of life, and life in general, had greatly improved. The other side of this particular coin was extremely dark, however, because magic in the wrong hands could become a huge threat, and if anyone could obtain it, it was unavoidable for this to happen sooner or later.
    For this reason, the main world governments had come to the decision of creating boundaries to what was happening, which led to the creation of the Magic Code, so far the only collection of laws in force in all states and continents, with slight variations, if there were any at all, from place to place. The Code did not rule crimes performed with magic, which after all weren't that different from those in which it hadn't been used. It rather regulated magic itself, specifying which kinds and usages were allowed, and which weren’t. Among other things, it forbid summoning, large-scale weather alterations and almost all flavors of necromancy, only allowing its usage for a very limited number of scopes, and only provided the user had requested and obtained a specific license.
    Almost a decade had to pass before the rulers of the time had started to understand that the Code alone was a very limited instrument while there was no one who had the precise task of enforcing it. Security forces were not up to the task, as they lacked the needed knowledge, and the situation had to be fixed by creating specialized squads, seamlessly integrated into normal forces but trained to face, understand and contrast arcane arts.
    The Department Shim commanded had been one of the first experiments of this solution. Integral part of the police, made up by specifically chosen officers, heavily trained, which results had been approved and appreciated by the people in charge, today it was one of the landmarks of that field of expertise.
    Although it was mainly a monitoring unit, it also had several more functions, including investigating on all events concerning the use of magic in violation of the law, and was invested with an autonomy and an access level to information far greater than those of the remaining departments. It would have been wrong to say it hadn't ever failed – there was still a certain share of unsolved crimes and more or less clamorous failures – but the