The trip back to the city progressed a lot faster. Kain sent 3 Wasp guards ahead to scout for any danger in front of them while they rode the Night Mares at a sprint back to the city.
With reliable scouts ahead the whole trip back was not only leisurely but fruitful, with Kain receiving 6 kill notifications without him having to lift a finger. Now he was 4 kills short of receiving 60 GP.
They returned to the city the next morning after only one night of rest and immediately went about disposing of the materials and plants collected that were of no use to them.
Even after splitting the profits, Kain should have enough to buy a smaller space ring of his own.
The bulk of the money came from the red-grade spiritual plants. Whether someone decides to contract them or use them as an ingredient, they were extremely valuable.
However, out of the red-grade plants, there was one that Kain and Bridge decided not to sell. An Aurose. The large red flower had been the key decorative feature in Queen's throne originally. The guards likely collected it due to its ability to increase the amount of spiritual power in the vicinity by a marginal amount, providing a slight boost to the speed of condensing spiritual power.
The slight increase would be negligible to Kain due to the Planetarium. They had also learned at the college information session that the dorms and several key locations on the campus were equipped with sigils to help increase the students' condensation of spiritual power. Therefore, Bridge didn't really need it either. They planned to plant it at the orphanage, hoping to further improve the ease with which the others could cultivate.
"Aahhhh… The things we do for them. We're such good big brothers" Bridge said smugly. But Kain couldn't help but agree, full of pride that since awakening an affinity they could be of greater help.
They also decided to keep some of the plants that can improve mental strength and constitution. Their effectiveness decreased with repeated usage, so they brought back just enough to be gifts to everyone in their family.
Kain also prepared a little extra to gift to Mr. Evergreen to thank him for being a great teacher during the time he'd known him and also to gift their neighbours John and Sally.
They then went to pay and collect the bracelets they had previously ordered before heading to the train station. They were finally heading home.
On the way, he fed Bea and then asked Queen to use her skill to restore his mental strength. The duration of the 24-hour 30% decrease in mental strength penalty was already reduced to 12 hours when he used his mental-attribute armour. With the help of Queen, the penalty was further reduced to a 20% reduction in mental strength for 10 hours.
Kain, also decided to be a little extravagant with his suddenly rich resources. He made a tea with the petals of a spiritual plant that is said to increase mental strength. He also sweetened the cup with some of the spiritual honey in his star space.
After finishing the cup, he looked at the system. There wasn't a further reduction in the penalty. He wasn't sure if it was because the max reduction was already achieved or if the white-grade plant whose petals he used was too weak to have an effect on him. Still, the teat was delicious. If he's struck by a sudden urge to act pretentious in the future he could consider greeting his guests with to quality spiritual tea and honey.
Immersed in his fantasies of the life of a nouveau rich, he took a quick nap to wait our the remainder of the penalty.
By the time they had arrived back to Brightstar city, the penalty was already more than half done.
Not wanting to delay the time with their family any more they headed back to the orphanage.
The moment they entered the door…
Oommff Oomfff
Kain and Bridge fell down dramatically at the tackles of the youngest children aged 6 to 8.
"Aaah! Charlie, Melody, Parker, Sunny! You guys have gotten so much stronger since the short time we've been gone."
They got up from the giggling pile of bodies and made their way further into the room. It was now close to dinner time so they could hear bustling noises in the kitchen. In there was Sally, so it seemed that the neighbours would be joining them. Perfect! Kain and Bridge can share their examination results along with the gifts they brought back with everyone at once.
After everyone was seated around the long table for dinner, Kain and Bridge cut to the chase without teasing them this time.
"You are looking at the 2 newest additions of Dark Moon College." Kain said to a room full of cheers.
"We knew you'd both make it!" The director said.
"Actually, we all thought that you'd failed and you were taking so long to come back in order to try another entrance exam or compose yourself and not burst into tears the minute you walked through the door," Cherry said before everyone gave awkward and embarrassed chuckles.
Kain's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Leave it to Cherry to ruin the atmosphere.
"We were delayed because we were finding my second contract and also getting gifts for you all. Although now I'm not sure if we want to give them out."
Immediately, the children burst into loud appeals to not withhold their gifts and that they only had doubts due to Cherry's big mouth.
"Okay. Okay. Ahem, we will now begin handing out the gifts."
They had already paid someone in the Starfire city to package and wrap up what they wanted to gift nicely."
"For the director, John and Sally. Here. We brought back spiritual tea leaves. The effects of the different leaves are labelled on the container"
They all looked shocked at a gift more extravagant than expected and tried to hand it back. Tea with effects such as these would cost close to 6 figures, and they were each given at least 3 containers full of them. However, Kain and Bridge to take them back so they eventually all reluctantly accepted.
"For the rest of you brats." Kain turned around and pulled out small beautifully wrapped boxes containing each one's personalized bracelet. "We picked out the ones we thought would suit you best, and in the middle is a name plate you can engrave with your name like Bridge and I did." He held up his wrist to show his own engraved.
The kids, even the older ones looked satisfied with the gift and immediately tried to put them on with sparkling eyes.
"Why do your bracelets say Kain and Bridge NEWMAN?" Cherry asked.
At those words, the rest also looked over to confirm and then looked at Kain and Bridge in confusion.
"Well…" Bridge began awkwardly. "When we were registering for college, I was upset that we were the only ones without a last name. Kain suggested that we add one, and we eventually settled on Newman, after New Beginning's orphanage."
The director looked like he was about to burst into moved tears, while the rest also looked at the bracelets in contemplation.
"Me too…" Charlie mumbled. "I want to share the same last name like a real family too…"
The rest also slowly nodded and looked at the director. "Can we add last names too?"
Finally, the tears boiled over as he hugged the youngest ones while nodding.
The room suddenly devolved into an extra emotional atmosphere. The only exception was Milo, who was still staring down at the bracelet in contemplation.
Unlike the rest of them who were orphaned young enough to not have much if any memories of their birth parents, Milo still remembered his birth parents, they named him and he still carries their last name—Milo Whitaker. He may not want to alter his last name.