everytime i try to accept a "very hard" mission in Esior's Haven, it always says that i lack the sufficient reputation.

what does this mean? after checking it over a bunch of times, i saw that my pet met the level requirement. what does this "sufficient reputation" refer to?

Reputation is shown in the bar under the city name, above the map and has text like "Current City's Reputation: Allied: (9000/9000) Current City's Badges: 0" directly under it.

You get more reputation by doing things like completing quests and missions from the location (It's the bit labeled "Faction Reward" in the Mission and Quest info)

As you rank it up (Indifferent > Friendly > Trusted) you get access to things like the higher ranked missions and more items purchasable from the shops.

but may i ask what it has to do with 'very hard' missions? when i click 'more info' it doesn't say anything about needing a specific amount of rep. to accept the mission.

I expect you just need to rank the reputation bar up to the next level (eg. if you currently have Indifferent, you need to do enough quests/missions(/I think also plot progression in an area but heck if I can remember) to reach Friendly, or if you have Friendly, enough to rank up to Trusted), so you do lower level missions until you reach it and unlock them (I'd go and check myself but for obvious reasons I can't.)

Yeah, the same thing happens when you want to do harder missions in the next area (Umbra Forest). You have to get enough reputation in that region.

Think of it as the town trusting you more to help with critical missions. You can gain rep by completing town quests, and by defeating bandits during raids on Esiors Haven.

Good luck! The very hard missions are worth it! :)