Gifted | Sleepy Bois Inc

Chapter Nine

"Another bounty hunter dead," Philza sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and swivelled towards me in his chair. "That's the third skilled person Smiley has taken out this week."

"Who was it?" I asked, frowning slightly.

"Hyacinth," Phil replied. "Gifted with invulnerability."

"How do you kill someone with invulnerability?"

Phil shook his head miserably, but he bit his lip in a way that suggested that he did know how. I squinted at him suspiciously. "Phil, this is vital information. Tell me."

He hesitated, looking me over warily, before consenting. "Fine. Being a Gifted means you have powers, but all strength has its weaknesses. I'm a healer, but it takes strength out of me every time I do it."

That was a surprise. It meant that every stupid injury I got cost Phil more than it did for me, and not only that, but I got stupid injuries all the time. If I had been smarter about the way I went around doing things, a lot of them could've been avoided.

Phil caught the look on my face and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Techno. You're my son. It's my responsibility to look after you."

"And it's my responsibility to look after you, too," I snapped. Then I sighed. "Please, Phil. Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I didn't see any reason to," he replied. "I knew you'd freak out, just like you are right now."

"I'm not 'freaking out.'"

"By definition, yes, yes you are."

I sighed again. I still hated that he hadn't told me all this sooner, but at least I was getting the knowledge now. As much as I wanted to, there was no use in arguing. "Alright. What about other powers?"

Phil scratched his head. "Well... it varies from person to person, but I do know a few. Pyro-Gifted typically can't be injured by their own flames, but they can get hurt from other fire. Hydro-Gifted dehydrate easily. But those are only for elemental powers. Other ones that are more effort on the mind have different side effects. Like... what happened with your power."

My power. I remember what had started to happen when I was young, first beginning to use it. The whispers in the back of my mind that had started to follow me everywhere. It had made no sense to me at the time, but being told that it correlated to my powers actually felt nice.

So I wasn't going crazy.

"So invincibles have a weak spot, then?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Phil nodded. "Their Achilles' Heel. Only they know where it is. But you can tell because when you hit it, they stiffen up for a solid ten seconds. That's only if you can hit it. They're usually pretty good at keeping it hidden and protected."

"And yet Smiley got it," I said.

"Smiley's one of a kind."

"Who's going after him now?"

My adoptive father stared at me, and I stared right back, undeterred. I knew Tryxel would have to send anther person out. There was no way around it. It was a good and fair bounty, with a high reward at that, and to give it up would be admitting defeat. None of the Heads would stoop down to that level. Philza might, since he knew when to cut his losses, but the other two? Not likely.

Finally, Phil dropped his gaze. "We're sending out Naida. He's clever, and he doesn't have any weaknesses that come with being a Gifted that can be used against him."