"The first part of the Tutorial begins. Select a weapon or combination of them"
The selection of weapons was not very complex, nor did it leave room for great inventions: long sword, two-handed sword, broadsword and shield, two daggers, long spear, long spear and shield, short sword and dagger, hammer and shield, two-handed axe, one-handed axe and shield, two-handed hammer, hand hammer and shield, bow and dagger. It was the basic set of weapons that could be found in the first levels of any video game.
Any video game addict would think of the sword, whether in any of its versions, long, two-handed or short, it was the preferred weapon of players who wanted to look good. However, have you ever handled a sword? Ikky at least not, at least he could not imagine himself handling such a weapon, not even with that body, a sword required technique, skill, and experience and he did not have it.
However, looking around a bit, he discovered the combination of weapons that interested me the most:
"spear and shield"... something that would guarantee his defense as well as keep the enemies as far away as possible...
The first sensation was the weight. Although a wooden stick of one meter and 60 centimeters was not an exceptional weight, the metal tip and the bad balance felt strange in the hand, the wood scratched and I didn't know how to hold it so that it was balanced... The shield was even worse, a round object of almost 80 centimeters in diameter made of wood attached to your forearm with a leather strap and a wooden clamp weighed like a ton. Getting used to it would not be an easy task, Ikky was sure that he would get tired after a few minutes of holding it.
Once the weapon was selected, Data's voice said:
"Enter the first test of the tutorial, the beast coliseum; fight without fear; your death will not count until all three tests of the tutorial are completed."
He was dressed in simple gray linen clothes, without shoes or armor, and armed only with a spear that he didn't know if he should hold far back, in the middle, or further forward. The shield weighed him down... In front of him was a 2-meter wide by 3-meter high corridor, ending in a portcullis door, all in a dim light that didn't allow him to see beyond because the light on the other side dazzled him.
Sweat and nausea, that's what he felt... Ikky's first fight was fighting against his own body that refused to experience a first-person fight. Would he even be able to survive? Although, with the increase in statistics and the new sensations, he felt better than ever, he had never fought in his life. The wildest thing he had ever experienced was a car accident that was a rear-end hit… fighting for his life, with his body, it all seemed like a bad joke.
The door opened, and as if forced by a mysterious force, he was forced to move forward and stumble towards the outside… The Coliseum was a Roman wrestling arena, no more, no less, although there was no one in the stands. It was about 30 meters high. Wide, with four statues in their pulpits, each to the right and left of the respective portcullis door.
He smelled of sand and blood; he smelled of sweat and beast; the ground was sand and the dry, harsh air stuck in his throat... An animal screech sounded from the barred door in front of him... A rat the size of a German Shepherd ran in his direction...
"Damn it... Why a damn rat?" Have you ever seen a rat the size of a large dog? Well, don't laugh at its reaction or its fear.
I would love to tell you that Ikky stood with his shield and spear waiting for the enemy, that he was brave and charged into danger, but no, I already told you that Ikky had no skill, no experience... He did what most people would do: run. He ran away from the rat like the coward he was, the most he managed was not to trip over his shield or spear.
However, no matter how much he ran with his renewed and re-energized body, that damned thing only slowly closed the distance... 15 meters, 12 meters, 8 meters... When Ikky could already feel the rat's hooves against the sand, the boy turned around, shield in front of him and the spear held tightly in his hand...
But the damned rat didn't attack him head on... Ikky jumped to the side, and the damned rat jumped too, climbing on top of his shield and grazing his forehead with its dirty teeth...
Out of pure instinct, he moved his shield, unbalancing the rat and making it fall, while the sting and blood ran down his face...
While Ikky was paralyzed by the superficial wound on his face, the rat didn't stay still, attacking from under the shield as soon as Ikky regained his balance. To avoid the bite on his leg, the boy fell backwards on his butt with the shield in front of him...
"Damn rat!!!" He didn't let go of the spear, but it was of little use, two scratches on his arm, a bite on his leg... at this rate his first real fight in life would end in defeat against a damn rat...
As luck would have it, the pulpit of one of the statues was only about 4 meters to his right. Bleeding, faced with the incessant harassment of a rabid rat the size of a large dog, he approached the pulpit, backing away. It was about 90 centimeters high by one meter and 20 centimeters wide; that is, it was a corner of almost one meter by one meter...
Ikky's desperation to get rid of the rat made him prick it with the edge of the spear. It was something superficial, but it made the rat back off for a few seconds and gave Ikky time to regain his composure and stand up...
The boy would always remember those bloodshot eyes and how that rat looked at him... as if he were the food, the prey... But with The corner of the pulpit of the statue behind him and enough space to move the spear in front of him, things were not so horrendous anymore. It was no longer easy for that dirty animal to attack him since he could not go around him or move from one side to the other.
The problem was that, standing at 1.85 centimeters tall, the shield barely covered his legs; however, if he crouched, he could barely use the spear, that was what happened when he did not know how to use a weapon.
Ikky only thought of opening his legs a little, lowering his center of gravity as much as he could, putting his left arm with the shield in front, and the spear held at a little less than half but tilted downwards with the sharp blade close to the shield to slide the spear along the side without leaving spaces...