Overall, I'd say that the semester has closed out well. Or, at the very least, it closed out better than all previous semesters. The student questionnaires reflect a higher satisfaction level, and most have shown good performance. A decent chunk of the student body has reached "the point of commitment", where from here on out, they're no longer aloud to drop out without us trying to impose some kind of penalty. Of course, they were allowed to leave instead, should they not want that kind of commitment.

Very few actually chose to leave, which is probably a compounding effect from the number who already left, and the rapid improvement of conditions at the academy. Overall, only 15 more students from the first class, and 34 students from the second class dropped out, leaving us with 208 in the first class and 289 in the second class. Of the second class just over half, at 155 students, are now permanently signed on since they didn't have enough remedial classes to qualify for an extension on commitment.

I've also seen some interesting results from clubs. The self-propelled wagon club is making progress, but has also come to realize just how hard some of it is. They didn't have much trouble getting an engine to turn an axle on a wagon as many of them had taken my course on simple machines. Even though it was somewhat poorly implemented and destructive to components, they also managed to come up with a system for a clutch to disconnect the engine from the axle. They were having an issue, however, with actually having proper control over the whole thing.

They hadn't figured out a good braking system, which in my opinion will require them to redesign their wheels and wheel assembly. They tried making the wooden spokes on the wheels thicker and having a lever insert a rod into it. As you can imagine, that resulted in breaking, rather than braking. They've also realized that the tongue of a normal wagon being the steering for the front axle doesn't work for a self-propelled wagon. The tongue normally acts as a lever to provide the necessary force to actually turn the direction of the wheels. All things considered though, I think they're making good progress. Next year, as they take more advanced classes, I think they'll start to figure things out.

I had an interesting experience that the hiking club brought to my attention as well. I've since forgotten the name of the edible plants that grew in the marshlands of Kembora, but they also seem to grow on Drazvok, or at least a very similar relative grows here. Its possible that it's a bit different, just like how the giant lizards were slightly different. In any case, a few demons harvested some of the edible parts and thought it was notable that they tasted really bad. I agreed that they tasted bad despite looking ripe, but it was also a very familiar taste. Many of the demons on Kembora today have been born in the last decade or two. For me though, I recognized it as being very close to the old taste of those plants.

I hadn't really noted it over time, possibly because the change year to year was so minimal, but it does seem like the selective breeding process I implemented had noticeably made them taste better. Kembora has been so heavily worked that I doubt you'd find any non-hybrid versions of this plant in the wild anymore. It's also only found in the marshiest areas, which means they're flat, and are one of the most likely places we'd want to build, so it's possible there are hardly any wild patches of it left anyway. I asked them to harvest some more, and they obliged. I then had those varieties presented back to the minister of terrestrial resources, so that he could also take notice of the change and perhaps let some of the farmers taste it to, to actually taste the progress that decades of selective breeding has given.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

One club that formed was related to reading and collecting old stories, which caught the interest of a few of the faculty. That has sparked a few positions for the break for students to fill at some faculty's requests. What happened, essentially, is that with students from so many different places in the dwarven continent collected in one place, they've realized that a lot of oral stories haven't been written down anywhere. So, much of their semester was filled with asking other students about what stories they heard growing up, and writing them down. Over break, a few of the students will be traveling to some of the very remote villages on the dwarven continent, or what is left of them, to see if they can find any more stories that haven't been shared.

There are other jobs students have been offered over the break as well. There are still the ones accompanying the ancient dwarven history professor, whom I've allocated a handful of supplies to be sent along with him, including some fluorite flashlights after I had a discussion with him on the matter. Apparently, most of the ancient dwarven towns were actually built deeper in mountains, compared to the modern locations which sit partially on the surface. There was, according to his estimation based on old stories, a lot more dangerous wildlife on the surface back then, so living deeper was safer. In any case, the flashlights with mana crystal batteries should be safer than torches if they're underground and there is little airflow.

I've got a dozen or so students helping build out more club areas as well. Now that more of them have a grasp of simple machines and mana engines, they'll actually be a bit more useful in helping setup the spaces that are more industrial in nature. I'll have to be gone for a few weeks in the middle of the break to go handle some of the hiring processes, so I'm hoping they'll be able to handle things as I lay them out. I had previously aimed to appoint department heads before the break, but I've put that off until after now. There was just a bit too much going on with clubs and break plans for that to come to fruition.

The trip to hire a few faculty went well. I had the opportunity to check how the railroad construction is going as well. They're handling the construction in three parallel methods. First, they're building out the necessary foundation with the steamroller. As they build that out in sections, rail is being installed to keep up with it. They're also prepping the rail yard just outside the dwarven capital. They've requested that I have a second steamroller made for them to speed construction up as well. I told them I'd see what I can do, but I'm already quite pressed for time, so I may not be able to get it to them as quickly as they'd like.

It also seems like the propaganda in the form of positive student statements seems to have helped to start changing the attitude that people have of the academy on the mainland. At least that is what it felt like while I was there, but it could also simply be that the academy has been around for two years, and so it's not being talked about as much in general.

I think what will likely actually help the most will be when students at the academy start making their own machines and discoveries that reach the greater world. Which is all the more reason to help the clubs along. Some more club facilities were completed over break, and so there will be more options this upcoming year. I'll have to wait to see what the new distribution of club members looks like with another 400 students entering the school.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.