"Snap out of it, kid." Stall Keeper Nendo said, leaning against the counter with a worried expression on his face.
I shook my head to snap out of my daze and smacked my face twice before putting my gold on the counter.
"Sorry, I'm just anxious about entering the tree." I said, rubbing the back of my head with an embarrassed look on my face.
After working at jobs around this town for a month, I had finally earned myself enough money to buy the gear I needed to enter the tree. I even had some extra gold left for things I didn't really need.
"Hey, John?" Nendo asked, his face still filled with worry.
"Yeah, what's up?" I gave him a confused look.
Nendo seemed somewhat embarrassed which was off putting for me. Ever since I've been here he's always been the type to have a straight face, even when something bad was happening to him.
"You're a good kid, John. I'm sure Akira will be proud when he sees you again." With the way he abruptly stopped, I had a large feeling he wasn't done talking yet.
"Thanks, I appreciate that. So, what else did you want to tell me?"
He gave me an annoyed yet embarrassed look as he threw his arms up in defeat. I snickered at his expression which ultimately turned into small laughter between the two of us.
"Damn kid," he laughed, "make sure to bring me some ingredients from the tree once to get out."
Nendo put the herbs on the counter in exchange for the gold I had placed. I waved him goodbye as I left the counter and walked to my next stop before entering the tree.
"Sir, please! My younger sister went into the tree and I need to protect her! Please give me a weapon!" A kid who seemed a tad bit younger than me yelled, his face screamed panic.
"Oh, John. Could you help me out here?" Kira asked.
Kira. Calm, quiet, and collected. He was known for making some of the best weapons in the country. He was also known for not talking that much. So in short, him talking is enough to turn the whole town's head.
"I'm coming." I said, walking over to the stall.
I already knew the situation so there was no need to ask. This kid here wanted a weapon so he could go into the tree and save his sister. One issue though; once he entered the tree there would be no way of getting out for him.
"You do know that once you enter the tree, neither you or your sister can leave, right?" I asked.
I had a serious expression on my face so he would know I wasn't kidding. To my liking, he seemed to understand the consequences and was fully willing to enter the tree. He had guts, and I respected that.
I dropped the serious expression and gave him a reassuring smile, "alright then, let's go save your sister."
He nodded his head and turned towards the weapon stall. I turned soon after and began looking for a weapon to choose. Thankfully the money I saved up covered more than two swords so I wasn't too worried.
"Why are you getting two swords?" The kid asked, an intrigued look crossed his face.
"It's a back up weapon just in case my first one breaks." I answered.
I would explain to him the backstory of why I do this but we didn't have the time. Right now we needed to go save his sister. So with that out of the way; I put the gold I owed on the counter, picked up our newly purchased weapons, and ran towards the entrance of the tree with the kid in close pursuit.