The three of them wandered through the second level of the underground for over a month. During this time, Ased felt incredibly satisfied. Every day, he could hunt ordinary prey without having to risk his life for food. Furthermore, he could find an abundance of sweet plants and insects, and there were many water sources—at least twenty percent of which were clean, drinkable fresh water. The density of Ranked Creatures was so low it could compare to the locations of the main tribal settlements, the kind of rare areas where such creatures naturally seldom appeared.
All these factors combined made Ased feel as though he never wanted to leave. Of course, that was just a feeling; he had to reach the World of Light and could not possibly settle here. Still, these days were the most comfortable he had ever experienced since birth, to the point of feeling indulgent. Just think: so many ordinary animals to hunt, so much clean water to drink, edible plants and insects found at every turn, and not only were Ranked Creatures scarce, but the environment itself was rarely dangerous. To put it bluntly, if he ever found the object needed to restore the Ancestral Land, he could potentially lead his entire tribe here. If the World of Light turned out not to be as wonderful as the legends suggested, then settling the tribe here to enjoy this life would be quite nice, with perhaps only occasional trips to the World of Light to witness the radiance.
With such thoughts in mind, Ased, who had as…
Chapter 169