Now that he had reached the first tier and established his qi core he was able to refine artifacts. This does not mean create artifacts but bind the artifacts to his qi core and soul and thus utilise the artifacts to their greatest potential. This was the proper way of using a weapon and helped greatly in battles as if someone else could use your own weapon against you, that would be a severe weakness. The artifact refining (controlling) could stop this entirely while also giving the user greater control and precision when using the artifact. This was also vital with auxiliary artifacts like the space ring, if someone refined a space ring then only they could open it. It was essentially locking the space ring so others couldn't take your things. Now that Lucius had reached tier 1 he was able to establish connections with the space ring he had made before and the Spiders Embrace too. However, most importantly of all was that he could finally establish a connection with the Garden. The Garden of Eden was considered a Godland level artifact, a tier 10 masterpiece, that took the Basil and Lazarus clans in conjunction with the other 6 top tier animal clans to create it. It was mainly constructed by Lucius' grandfather (his dads dad) and his grandmother (his moms mom) the respective leaders of the Basil and Lazarus race of more than 10,000 years. Once Lucius could establish a connection he would finally be able to leave the Garden and would be able to unlock more features while upgrading the current features.
Lucius entered the Cultivation room and sat in the middle of the formation. The Cultivation room was not just a place for Lucius to meditate but also the main control centre of the Garden and housed the core formation which Lucius sat on everyday. It was only through this formation that Lucius could reach the core of the Garden with his soul and establish a connection.
"Lucius Basil. Spirit gatherer realm achieved. Connection to mainframe possible. Would you like to establish a soul bond?"
"Yes please!"
Lucius was able to easily refine the Garden using the formations help and was then overcome by a great urge to sleep. When Lucius woke up an hour later he noticed the Cultivation room was much larger now and there were more items scattered around that would help his cultivation but he was not too bothered right now. He wanted to leave and see the outside world already. However, Lucius was not a rash boy and he knew he would face danger in the outside world so he returned to the nursery and pulled out a blue print from a cupboard and then rushed to the Creation room. Lucius had long since planned making a weapon that he would build, in conjunction with constantly improving the Spiders Embrace. He had begun planning it since he was 11 so he got to work as soon as he entered the now more spacious smithy. He was delighted that the quality of the tools and anvil had increased from before because of the soul bond as he pulled out various metal ores from the store room, along with herbs and liquids of various different colours.
To begin with Lucius would be making a blade. It would mostly be a steel-titanium alloy but plated at the edges with spirit steel-titanium alloy (S.S.T alloy) for extra sharpness but also so it did not chip or break. S.S.T was a lot rarer and more expensive than regular steel-titanium alloy as you had to mix together the spiritual versions of the metals in the perfect ratio to create it and thus Lucius had only made so much, since his mother didn't give him anything for free. The blade would have no guard and the handle would be rapped in a soft and flexible leather from a tier 1 magic beast. It would then have a hoop at the back end of the handle that would be used later. He would then write inscriptions on it, these were: sharp, sturdy, swift, qi enhancing, qi flowing, extension and compression. Qi enhancement and flowing were peak tier 1 inscriptions that helped with using techniques with the sword and could even make the attacks greater. The extension and compression was so that the blade could change size from a dagger to a short sword to a full long sword. The blade was immaculate and shiny with a cold light, it was a pale blueish grey and the edges were a perfectly blended purple. It didn't look like it was a knife that had a border around it but that it was naturally meant to be blended in such a way. Lucius made two of the same identical blades and it took him 4 days in total.
Next were the chains that would be attached to the blades from the hoop at the back. Lucius had learnt how to use many weapons by his father so he tried to compound his insights into one creation. The blades would change from dagger to sword, he would use the chains with the blade like a whip and if he inserted qi and made the chains stiff it became a spear. He had compounded all the weapon arts he had learnt into one ideal weapon. He would have to make each individual chain separately and also inscribe them each separately too so it took him quite a long time to create the two chains. He made them all out of steel-titanium alloy and he inscribed the tier 1 inscriptions of extension, compression, fluidity, qi enhancement, qi flowing, sturdy and qi resistance. The fluidity inscription would help the chains flow as a stream instead of in a clunky manner as they usually do. The resistance inscription was to stop enemy qi from invading and disrupting the techniques Lucius would use through it as since someone was more likely to grab onto a chain than grab on to a sword. He took 2 weeks to complete these chains as he took care with each one and slowly inscribed each of them. He connected the chains to the blade, he had made it so that the blades could be detached if needed. He would call this 'Devils Calling Mark 1'. He had already created a dream of one day building a Devils Calling out of Dragon materials.
Although Lucius had the Spiders Embrace, he still wanted to create some more armour as the Spiders Embrace was more of an under armour training suit. It was mainly focused on comfort so now he would focus on defence. He would create a light plate armour out of even more steel-titanium alloy and then coat it with the herbs he had brought out before. Most of the liquids he had brought out before were used in creating the chains as he had coated them in anti corrosive agents but now he would use the rest as a slipping agent that would help deflect weapons that hit the armour. Making the armour was as simple as making the blade so Lucius was able to create this a lot quicker than the chains that he spent 2 weeks on but he still spent a week on it. He had created a sleek and slender light armour that emphasised movement over heavy protection but it was still far more protective than the Spiders Embrace. He had inscribed the basic formations that he had added to the chains but also some repelling and reflective inscriptions to help block ranged attacks. Most arrows would slide of the armour instead of pierce through and smaller projectiles like bullets or pellets would be reflected. He didn't have a special name for this armour as it was just a basic armour he would be using for now. He would grow out of it too and even become stronger than the armour in not too long as he was a body refiner as well.
By now he had only a week left until his twelfth birthday so he decided to leave then, as a grand celebration or something. He was mainly motivated to leave the Garden because of Delilah but she had gone into seclusion in her room as she was breaking through to the second tier, the elemental ascension realm. When those of the 6 Great animal clans broke through to the next tier they would go into hibernation as they evolved into a greater form. Delilah was particularly excited about this as she would be able to transform into a human once she reached the second tier. Although most magic beasts could only transform once they had reached the third tier or even the fourth for some slow ones but Delilah was the princess of the Divine Earth Elephants and had the insights and techniques of her mother who was a peerless expert.
Lucius spent the rest of the week welcoming the changes in the Garden while stocking up his Space ring, that he had now established a soul bond with, with healing pills, herbs, throwing weapons and other miscellaneous artifacts that would make his life easier ( household artifacts like cookers and tents). Time passed quickly as his twelfth birthday finally came. He said good bye to his parents, it wasn't that emotional as he could still see them whenever he wanted if he just went back into the Garden as the Garden would shrink down and enter his soul space when he left. He was now ready to enter the tier 1 low grade world, Bakre.