"See, I told you he was a professor here," Lin said, hearing the declaration from the professor. He glanced towards Amrita, whom he had informed about how this man was a professor even before they took their seats.
"Yes, you were right," Amrita nodded as she focused on her clay and other small tools to prepare for the class, not caring or paying much attention to that man.
Even though he was young, it was possible for him to pass the tests of the academy to become a professor. Considering how tough it is, he must be a prodigy.
Amrita always believed that age, race, gender, and anything else didn't matter; their achievements as a whole define their standards, status, and the respect they deserve, which is only enhanced by the limitations and restrictions they had in their path.
For this man, it was his young age, and his achievement is to become a professor at an elite academy.
So, Amrita's respect for him had increased largely due to overcoming his restrictions, which she appreciated as a human being and which fueled her motivation to do better. She lifted her gaze to look towards her new professor and learn about sculpture.
"Students, not wasting our time, let me ask you: why is clay commonly used to make sculptures?" Avendial folded his sleeves before shaping the clay as he began to do it, his eyes glancing at every student but never looking at Aria.
"It's convenient to use since we can shape it the way we want."
"Indeed, it's easier to rectify errors if we make mistakes while creating some shape."
Avendial gave a light nod, hearing the students give him answers while enthusiastically showing their concentration in the class. Given that they had all made their way into an elite academy, they were on the smarter side. But not caring about their intelligence, he repeated, "Clay is malleable. Just like humans, wouldn't you say?"
His hands still molded the figure, and after looking towards everyone, he finally directed his gaze down towards the clay, adding in a calm tone, "You see, it bends to your will with the right amount of pressure. Too little, and it resists. Too much, and it breaks."
"Now the professor too?"
"Really? First Lin and now even the professor?"
Both of Aria's friends mocked Amrita as they glared at her, who had halted in mid as she heard their taunts, including Lin, who clenched his fist upon hearing them insulting Amrita.
'A cliché plot,' Avendial thought, looking towards the scene in front of him, which appeared like a very normal story from a novel, where there existed a villainess, a heroine, and a hero. The villainess and the villainess' friend always used to taunt the heroine as the hero saved her, eventually using them as stepping stones to get closer to the heroine.
Seeing all this, Avendial remembered the events inside the tower where, with time passing, he noticed how, similar to him, there were several individuals who had fallen from the sky.
It meant that once they were at the epitome of the hierarchy, but inside the tower, they were thrown into the mud, as if prepared to be trampled upon by their particular rivals or someone who arrived from the mud and rose to the sky.
There was not just him. There were several cases like this. Upon analyzing each of them, Avendial found that the most logical explanation was simply to categorize people into those who were favored by luck and those who were not.
But it also got sub-categorized as he came to know that there were some background stories behind these characters that appeared similar to the fantasy novels present in this world.
And finally, at the mouth of a villainess (Aria) whom he had killed after dealing with the man she loved (Lin) and the woman (Amrita) who was between her and that man, Avendial heard her reveal how she was able to see the title of Villain above his head.
Indeed, Avendial came to know about the ability of Aria after she said to him how she and he were alike because they both held the title of villain in someone's life.
"Amrita, you don't need to bring your tools, just come here," Avendial intentionally called her name, knowing well that this would send signals to the two people in the crowd who held a clear advantage over others when it came down to their relations in a triangle love story.
And right to his thoughts, seated far away from each other, Lin and Aria found their gazes snapped towards Avendial as, with widened eyes, they thought, 'He knows her name?!'