Bartering time!

The original plan was to head to the tree village and stop off for a quick bite to eat and to book a room at the local inn before they set off to exploring the region - however upon discovering the myriad of stores and food stands, Elise and Ignis couldn't help but drag Sven from place to place as they excitedly sifted through the various items and trinkets. Most of the vendors sold trash that didn't interest him, clay pots fired up from the kilns below, ragged fiber shorts and half shirts sewn with rope or vines, freshly potted honey with bits of comb still inside, tiny brown bottles of tree sap brandy that left a burning sensation on your tongue when drank, grilled lizards set to smolder over open embers.

However Sven stopped the two girls leading him around the shops like a dog on a leash when he came across something interesting that he didn't expect to see. A wooden stave! It had been made out of the heartwood of a swamp tree - a strong and sturdy material with magical engravings carved into it carefully. Not just any stave, Sven thought as he inspected it.

"An eye for quality the young master has, the staff in your hands was passed down to me since I were but just a wee girl!" A gnarled old woman peered over her rickety stand causing a creaking sound to come from both wood and bones as she did so.

"A Litch Staff." Sven worded to no one in particular, still admiring the immaculate runes embedded into the wood. A staff like this was a rare vendor item, players would camp obscure shops for these types of items to spawn in and then sell them to other players for a profit - they were uncraftable items that had better stats than the average items found in that zone.

"The young master truly has knowledge of such an item? This old lady is surely impressed! For a discerning man of wisdom such as yourself, I offer a fair price of 500 gold AxM for this rarity!" The old lady rubbed her hands slowly, Sven smirked at her age old tactic of flattery to try and bloat the price of her wares.

"500? A rarity to be sure, but not a national treasure! Such an item is worth no more that 200 gold AxM." The old lady's face dropped for a moment before she lifted the masked smile back up.

"200 gold AxM would send me to bed without any firewood this night! The young master likes this item I can tell! 250 gold AxM and this powerful relic shall be yours! A half price deal for such a willful bargainer!" The old lady was practically wringing her hands now, but Sven could still see this wasn't a fair deal.

"250 gold AxM is a lot of currency, I could buy a small house for that price! 220 gold AxM, that's my final offer." The old lady sighed before picking up the staff and handing it back to Sven.

"You have a deal! I had no idea I was bargaining with such a shrewd businessman!" Sven laughed at that before reaching into his spacial inventory and producing a bag of sufficient golden coins, the sight shocked the onlookers who were enjoying this spectacle - shock soon turned to fear as the crowd thinned one after the other until the merchants quarter was as barren as the sands of QuoHar. Only the old lady remained, her shocked face had since turned to scornful.

"Had I known I was bartering with something so vile I wouldn't have budged from 500! Nay, I would have charged 1000!" She snatched the bag out of Sven's hand fiercely and then went to sit back on her stool. Sven went to say something but was cut off immediately. "GO! And don't come back!" She turned her face to his, completely rejecting his presence.

Ignis looked sad, she understood the old ladies misgivings because she herself had the same reaction inside of herself when she first met Sven. What would their interaction had been like had Sven not saved her life? The thought sent a shudder down her spine - she would probably be as scared and intolerant as this old lady in front of her.

Elise wasn't sad, she was angry that everywhere Sven went they treated him like a monster just because he was a 'hero'. They didn't know anything about him and wouldn't even give him a chance to let him get to know them.

"Come on Sven, lets not waste our time with these idiots." Elise pulled Sven away, still clasped hand in hand with one another. Ignis followed along glumly.

It was about time they head out anyway, they'd already wasted the better half of an hour looking across the carious useless wares. Maybe it was better like this, Sven thought as he climbed down the rope ladder, leaving early like this means that they had more daylight hours to explore - but what was really playing on his mind is how exactly heroes have such a bad name in this world? Ignis had explained a little bit of what she understood, but it really didn't scratch at the surface of where all this bad information was coming from.

As they reached the marshy ground, the rope ladder ascended back up into the treeline. Elise and Ignis looked none too pleased that they were back in the mud again, especially after not having found a public bath for them to clean themselves in.

"Here Ignis, this is for you." Sven handed her the Litch Staff, a level 15 item that gave +50 to spell damage and a 5% of total mana regeneration per 10 seconds. Ignis took the wooden staff with a revered look, Elise looked jealous that she was receiving yet another gift. Sven spotted this and offered her an apologetic smile.

"Can we really afford this, master?" Ignis held the item delicately like it might crumble away in her hands if she shook it too suddenly. Ignis had leveled up to 15 since fighting those toads so she could only just use the items properties in battle.

"Well we're kinda broke now, but I value your life over a little bit of money." Sven patted her head which made her smile. Looking around Sven took in his environment, where should they go to explore first?