Choosing a weapon

Daniel stood in front of the heavily decorated wall, looking at all of the choices before him, unsure of where to even begin. He had always wanted to become a hunter - to be able to go out into the wild, to be able to sustain himself on the fruit of the land and the strength in his own arms. But now that he was facing the ability, he didn't know where to begin. He had always heard stories about the feats of the hunters, able to fight off beasts ten times their own size, carve their hides, making clothing, weapons, and meals out of every part of them. But he needed to start somewhere. He needed to start with a weapon.

But standing there, looking at the options, at a variety of blades, hammers, axes, bows, blowdarts, maces, polearms, lances, and primitive firearms, he couldn't decide which hunting path he would take. He had dreamed often about each of them. Truth be told, he wanted to try all of them. He wanted to feel the weight of each of them in his hands, to know what they felt like to swing, and how they felt as they tore through flesh and bone. But to try and conquer them all, to become skilled enough to survive, was impractical. Not to mention they were so large and heavy, carrying more than one anywhere he went was suicidal.

He couldn't just pick one, though. He had been standing in front of them for more than fifteen minutes, unmoving, unable to make a decision. Did he want to be the classic hunter, using a long sword with which to nimbly and deftly mince monsters to pieces? Did he want to crush their skulls in with the blunt and heavy hammer? Did he want to fight them from a distance, and put a stop to them before they could even draw close?

There were benefits and disadvantages to each of them. Some were incredible simple to use, and he could be out in the field much sooner than others. But he risked growing tired of the same, dull, repetitive motions. But to have something that could be utilized more diversely, to have more freedom in how he hunted, also meant significantly more time spent just learning the ropes.

Jacob's hand fell on Daniel's shoulder, pulling him from his trance and turning his head away from the wall. "It's pretty overwhelming, huh?" Jacob asked. Daniel could only nod in response. "Well, I wouldn't much recommend trying to get too adept at them all, as tempting as it may be... But it can't hurt to just start from the left and go down the list, trying them all, to see what you like. Doesn't matter how good you are at fighting if you don't enjoy it, after all."

Daniel blinked and looked back at the wall. He hadn't even thought about that. This seemed like such a life-defining choice, and one that he couldn't take back. But Jacob was right. There was time. He could afford to give in to a little bit of joviality. He grabbed the first weapon - a massive, two handed sword that looked like a giant cleaver. "Let's get started."