Tome of Paladins : The DawnLight

05. Safety First

… …

Looking at the man in black that now lay himself on the ground. Tori then with awareness that surely from the start still flaring high, looked around. Trying to confirm there's no next ambush like before which could be another threat.

He then promptly took the knife that fallen the ground from the man's hand after his punch that he's sure of it causing the man wrist to totally broke like a coconut squash.

Put it on his bag, he trying to keep it safe from anyone hostile that may use it against him.

Next.

Slowly but carefully he approached the man's with black mask that now lay on the ground.

Safety first!

He took an iron bracelet from his bag that it had actually quite a lot of pockets inside with various things he called gadget. While the one he took now named Torpefied Ring*.

Cool stuff.

Then he tapped it at the side that look like a mirror or a clear water that put reflection on anyone who confidently examining their meat. Buzzing bees is the sound that following the next after that echoed softly on Tori ears.

*Clack*

*Cssszzzz*

It then clacked apart to become two pieces that connected with glowing blue electric strings that thickness is more like a wire that cohabited herself with an electric eel, sizzling around in the hold of that bracelet.

While holding it with his hand on one of the two pieces, Tori swiftly put the blue cizzling fillis into meeting the left wrist of the man in black that trying to pummel him on the face.

*Click*

The bracelet then clicked back to its original appearances, fastened on the man in black in wrist.

It soon gave a reaction on the man actually conscious body that now feeling so acidulous that grating his day, which put him twitching on the floor like a sea fish who lost out from its wide safety tanks, then pulping, trying hard to found back the kiss of its salty water.

Looking at the man in black, Tori just scoffed scornfully at his attempt to make a fool out of him and sneak a hit guilefully.

'Heh, you are still far cry from the instructor on the training field that could put you easily on your mother's mercy back and forth.'

Six seconds after, the latter cease all of his movements while laying himself on the ground with wide open eyes. Clearly numbed by the bracelet effect that made him lost all of his senses.

Tori then took off the mask.

Loo and behold.

A man that seems so old that Tori practically could called him Olive Grandpa.

He thought in particular and by guessing from all those thin white hairs that covered some of his head that look like an aged gorilla who were too lazy, to even find some space in his uuu-uuu-aaa time to taking a bath, while some field formed which the result of deforestation.

There's also wrinkle and some pimple that look darn rough, yeasty and coarse like a semolina bread infected by molluscum virus.

'Why did this guy look so… Unfortunate.'

And from all of that substantiation above, he came to the conclusion that this old man must be on his fifties or even more.

There's also some dead skin like a snake around the old man pale face that halfway pulled off, which put a frown on Tori's face that hidden beneath his mask.

Other thing that he took notice is, the hairs on the man in black that seems barely attached to his head, that pulled him all the way to a memory where he found a boar on a forest where he once had a mission.

…

A dead, rotten boar.

Put his vision away from the latter that eyes now following him, that for some unknown reasons made the hair on his back stand, he then walked away unhurriedly, trying to act normal.

After checking for a while about the other unconscious guy that as report mention that, they are all the part of a small gang that called themselves RidicHalley, who actually are a small branch of a crime syndicate that appalledly known by almost all the citizens of the Empire, where they used to smuggled a large number that scopes aren't only on illegal weapons and drugs, but also engaged themselves in slaves and an act of kidnapping womans all around the Empire for the brothels.

But…

Tori couldn't help but get confused of how there is this calibre of wretched man who fighting for this small gang. He also found himself get interested with the way the man in black fight him.

The smooth flowing motion of knife, even though he don't use it like few of his instructors at Justice Enforcers training field, where they could switch hands easily on the middle of the fight, but still.

He could rotate it on his hand while swinging it around in motions, but without even losing his grip or strength inside of it.

Like…

There's another hand or finger in the palm of his left hand.

Putting some distance and make sure the man in black can't heard him, he quickly contacted the one who standby on the main channel.

While walking to the door of the room that ajar widely with light that brighten bleakly the space they're in right now, he advanced passing the unconscious people that now napping quietly on the floor, he said softly.

"Here's Tori, reporting…"

While reporting what's happen so far, the first things that caught his eyes after slowly finding himself on the open door is a whey-faced woman. A very pale young woman around twenty with sallow eyes, lanky frame and torn clothes that after she had a glimpse of him, briskly cover her face with both of her boney hands while pulling her equally thin feet close to her embrace and sat on the tawny yucky looking floor.

And then.

Another woman.

Another woman that had the same situations as the first one which put himself fuming deep inside.

'These *****.'

"... Also, please ask them to also bring some other shirts, clothes or anything that could covered the bodies."

"… What do you mean?"

"There's few woman here that conditions are quite worrying. It…" He then cut short by the reply from the earpiece.

"There's no woman."

"…Excuse me?"

"What do you mean by woman?"

"But here's where i'm right now, there's few woman that seems are victims."

"We already check all the building that's marked red* on the mission, before those people finally finding their way there, and make any one of it the place for the transactions."

"Yeah, and then?" Gavin asked, puzzled.

"They don't bring anything alive. I mean, they came from Syriagoons harbor where that place also had their own equipment who took notice of any life that get a pass unregistered. Then all of them separated themselves into many teams. Meanwhile, the place you're in now is also already under heavy surveillance. And trust me, they don't even goin' outside after arriving in that place."

"But…" Just when he wanted to continue, the light in the room Tori facing right now start to flickering, rapidly announcing, I'm here.

"W..h… is… t… w… … s… hap… … ng?"

*Ssszzzzzttt*

*Ssszzzzzttt*

*Ssszzzzzttt*

While the connection Tori had with the guy on his earpiece start to sizzling, sign of a disturbance that causing the signal on the line gradually losing its grip.

And what's even more appalling is how Tori just blink slightly, then…

Everything's change.

There's no woman that sitting while covering their face in there anymore.

But…

It all replaced with...

A doll.

A doll the size of human that sitting itself on the floor.

While all of their head and plastic eyes now's feels like, they staring at him.

With eerie silence and white glow that now little by little, gradually leaving his eyes while cawing ghastly trying to tell Tori to get used as such.

…

*Torpefied Ring are basically the future handcuff, with its one iron ring that looked like a bracelet,but being adorned by anything. When locked to the wrist of the target, it incapacitated them by sending an electric shock that numb and paralyzed the target.

*Red marked place are the one where Subsidiary Group deployed. While the purple marked are for the Main Group.