Dryth did his best to not look impatient as he waited in the room he'd been directed to. After having his reveal he'd been directed to a dormitory to wait for his mentor to be assigned and then located. He'd been informed that he might have to wait several days if the mage that the Association assigned to be his mentor was traveling or located far enough away, which is why there was a dormitory. There was no cost to stay there while you were waiting for your mentor thankfully, Dryth didn't have a large surplus of cash, and meals were included. They weren't of the highest quality but they were good and filling.

  Of course, the good meals and decent sleeping arrangements, Dryth had a roommate in the small two bed room they'd assigned to him but they'd only showed up for the first night and then been somewhere else the entire time Dryth had been waiting, weren't enough to balance out four days of sitting around, being bored, and worrying about himself. Dryth certainly wasn't panicked about it, but he was a little concerned about his prismatic text and what it meant for him. He also understood why Mage Annyerie came up with her own, shorter term than "silver text" or Dryth's new "prismatic text", they were too long to say or think repeatedly.

  His uniqueness worried him because there was a chance it could limit him, and he wanted to talk to his mentor about what could be done to mitigate that. His thoughts had gone to unhelpful places, like not being able to get a job and somehow being stuck in the village that didn't like him with a family that didn't support him. And wasn't the whole point of having a mentor was to have them help you get to your feet in the world as a new adult with the potential to do magic now in your grasp? That was why he was getting impatient. He knew there had to be an answer, but his mentor was taking so long! He'd been told that morning that his mentor had been located and was traveling to the Association campus and Dryth had been taken to the meeting room he was now waiting in after he'd eaten breakfast, which had been hours ago. Just when he was reaching the limits of his patience the door swept open. Dryth steeled himself, sitting up with his best posture and making his expression one of interest and healthy expectation. He was going to make a good first impression on his mentor, get their advice, and forge an excellent life for himself as a mage.

  His first impression of his mentor was not great. The man's salt and pepper hair was long and unkempt, covering half his face with tangled strands that left his narrow brown eyes barely poking out behind them. He was wearing a linen shirt with long sleeves that were ragged at the ends, with a stain near the bottom. His pants were similarly disheveled. Under one arm was a thin folder with papers haphazardly stuck into it. The man walked into the room without even looking at Dryth and slammed the door behind him. He grabbed the chair across the table from Dryth, tilted it back, and threw his legs up onto the table. Still without looking anywhere near the person he was supposed to be mentoring the man flipping half-heartedly through the papers. When he'd read the last one he shut the folder and tossed it on the table. Only then did he lazily tilt his head to the side and look at Dryth through one eye.

  "You're a problem."

  "I..." Dryth stared at him, completely caught off guard. "What?"

  "You're a problem case, that's why I got called in to 'mentor' you." The man said with physical air quotes around the word. "They only come around to browbeat me into mentoring someone when there's a new Contractor that's an issue somehow. So, what's your deal?"

  Dryth's eyes narrowed as he looked back at the man, who hadn't even introduced himself. His normal plan was already out the window. Interacting with authority figures that had something Dryth wanted was a pain, and his go to was to aim for whatever behavior ended up being the path of least resistance. Being polite and respectful without being obsequious generally got him through interactions with people that had power over him without causing any problems, but this guy's entire attitude showed that wouldn't work. "Shouldn't you know that already?" He asked, deciding to match the tone. "You brought my file with you."

  "Eh." The man waved one hand above his chest. "I was only looking for family connections or past events that might have been flagged. Those kinds of problem cases are the easiest to solve, but you're just a normal hick from hicktown. Which means you have a unique issue, and those I like to hear directly from the source." He flopped his head to the side so both eyes could see Dryth and watched him expectantly.

  "You think you can solve my 'issue'?"

  "Solve?" He scoffed, "No. Whatever you have written in shiny words at the bottom of your Soul Card, you're stuck with that until the day you die. Nothing can get rid of it, and the only thing that can change it is powering up your Soul Card and making it stronger. But I have the best record among Contractor mentors for mitigating dilemmas and making sure baby mages can become well rounded, perfectly behaved Association members, that follow the rules and toe the line." He pinched his shirt and pulled it up before letting it snap out of his grip. "That's why I can get away with breaking the dress code." He looked back over. "Well? Out with it, what makes you special?"

  Dryth wasn't sure he wanted this man as his mentor, except he supposedly had the best record at making problems less problematic, which was really what Dryth thought he needed. "My contracts soulbond me to whoever I contract with, and the contracts don't have end points. When I die, they die and when they die, I die."

  The man looked interested for the first time since he'd walked in as he slowly sat up. He kept his feet on the table but at least all four chair legs touched the floor. "... Is that it?" He asked a few seconds after Dryth stopped talking, actively looking him over and inspecting him. "Wait, no." He held up a hand to interrupt, before Dryth could even open his mouth. "I bet it says something about not being able to go to other planes too, unless it completely breaks that rule, and then you wouldn't be here."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "I can only go to another plane if I go simultaneously with whoever I'm contracted with." Dryth told him, his estimation for the man rising the tiniest fraction that he'd thought of that so quickly.

  "That's better than it permanently locking you to this plane, although that wouldn't really limit you too much. Is that it?"

  "The contracts form emotional bonds that can become true empathic bonds over time and allows for telepathic communication."

  The man quirked his eyebrows at that. "Alright, not all demerits. You'd usually need to reserve space in your deck for those kinds of abilities and both of them are really helpful when you want to contract with non-humanoid species. That's everything?"

  Dryth nodded.

  "Well!" The man exclaimed, throwing his feet off the table as he spun to face Dryth directly. "You're in for a rough go of it, kid. Getting soulbound to an experienced mage with loads of cards might be worth it for some, but almost no one's going to want to agree to one of your contracts. You don't have anything to offer, anyone who contracts with you has to immediately trust you with their life while putting a literal time limit on their lifespans, and anyone from another plane becomes stuck on this one forever unless they take you back home with them, which will probably kill both of you even faster since this is one of the safest planes out there and you're not equipped to survive a trip anywhere else." He stopped talking and stared at Dryth. Slowly, a grin crept over his face. "This might actually be interesting!" He pushed back his chair energetically and strode to the door. "Come on then, lets get to work!"

  Dryth stared out the door as the man left. After thirty seconds he stuck his head back into view, scowling. "What are you doing? When I was young enough to have a mentor I followed him wherever he went."

  "That sounds like a lie." Dryth muttered under his breath as he got up and followed his mentor.

  His mentor who apparently had excellent hearing. "Does it?" He asked with a grin, "Well, there's no way for you to find out, so why don't you trust your mentor at his word?"

  "What's with the attitude change?" Dryth asked, throwing caution to the wind. "When you came in you were acting like-"

  "A lazy sod?" The man finished looking over his shoulder, "That's because I am one, and don't you forget it. But! There is one thing that can break me from my ever present laziness." He glanced back expectantly.

  Dryth supplied the obviously desired question. "And that is?"

  "Something interesting!" The man declared with a finger raised toward the sky. "I am lazy because I am almost always bored." He spat the last word like a curse. "There's very little in life nowadays that provides an actual challenge to me, and even the problem cases I'm assigned to mentor are usually easily solved with a tiny bit of brainpower. But your case might actually stave off the border for a little while, and that's worth putting effort into."

  The man made a sharp turn down a hallway Dryth hadn't seen and he had to scramble for a second to change directions. As they quickly walked they moved from the less populated area around the new mages dorms and meeting rooms for mentors and entered the main body of the campus. Mages walked past them, absorbed in projects or deep conversations with peers, reading books, or just powering on to their own destinations. People obviously noticed the speed walking man not wearing proper mages robes with the newbie following him and more than one person shot Dryth's still unintroduced mentor harsh looks. Those harsh looks quickly became looks of shock, nervousness, or actual fear and more than a handful of mages suddenly found other places to be or things to look at. One man walked out of a room, looked up to see Dryth's mentor, and promptly turned back into the room before shutting the door behind him.

  After a few minutes of walking the man led Dryth into a fairly deserted hallway with two guards in front of a door at the end. They approached, and one of the guards stepped forward with his hand out.

  "This area is prohibited to anyone without authorization. Please turn back."

  "I'm on the list." Dryth's mentor replied, fishing in a pocket with one hand.

  The guard rolled his eyes hard. "Only authorized personnel are allow-" He shut up as Dryth's mentor stuck some kind of badge up against his face.

  "I'm on the list." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder at Dryth, "This is my new student, he's with me."

  "I- Yes, sir, you are on the list and this is your student who's with you. Please go ahead." The guard said nervously, stepping out of the way with a quickness.

  "Wonderful." Without looking back at Dryth his mentor, he didn't have anything else to call him so that's what Dryth was thinking of him as, pulled open the door and stepped into the room ahead.

  Beyond confused at this point Dryth stared at his mentor's retreating back. The guard who hadn't spoken impatiently waved at Dryth to move along, so he walked inside. The room was completely empty, without furniture or adornments of any kind. The black stone floor contrasting against the light gray walls was the only thing of notice, other than Dryth's mentor standing in the center looking back at him.

  "Stand next to me. No, closer than that." He grabbed Dryth's shoulder and pulled him right up against him. "There. Now don't move until we arrive, I don't want to have to grow back any of your limbs."

  "What does that-"

  Dryth's mentor moved his hand through the air like he was picking something up, and a card appeared in his hand. It was a magic card, evidenced by the blue border Dryth was coming to recognize better. It was tilted away so that Dryth couldn't see the face of it. As he was leaning to try and get a better view, the ground beneath their feet began to glow with blinding intensity. Dryth slammed his eyes shut and brought his arm over them to protect against the light. There was a sensation of movement as his stomach dropped, like he was in a roller coaster going over the first hill.

  There was quiet as the light vanished. Dryth cautiously opened his eyes. Blinking and shaking his head in confusion he looked around at the new room they were standing in. His mentor was still next to him where he had been, but the floor was now a slate gray color and the walls were an off white shade. Even the door to the room was different.

  "How do you feel?" His mentor asked, looking down at his face, "Any nausea? Eyes feel oddly dry?"

  "Ah, no?"

  "Great! Some people don't react well to their first few teleports. I'd hate to have to make you clean up your vomit from the ground for our first lesson."

  "Teleport!?" Dryth blurted out.

  "Indeed!" The man grinned cockily, "Instantaneous, long distance travel via magic, performed by yours truly without any assistance. Please hold your applause. Oh, and welcome to my home, and all that."