O-okay...

You hesitantly walk towards the shop's counter, a mix of fear and curiosity on your face as you look up at the huge minogirl. Your shocked, ambivalent gaze is met with a cheeky, confident grin from her. "That's better! 'Ello there, little fella!" She chuckles, ruffling your hair with her large hand. A strange feeling, but not really an unpleasant one...

"Rhea, right? My name is Theo." You softly say as soon as the woman's thick fingers abandon your head.

"Yup, Rhea 'ere! Nice to met ya, Theo. Lookin' for a weapon? Some armor, maybe?"

"A sword. I don't really know much about them, so..." You speak, placing the golden coins Agis gave you over the counter. "...What can I buy with this?"

"Huh..." Rhea mumbles under her breath, grabbing the money and counting it, "Alrite, got ya!" She snaps her fingers, crouching and searching for something under the counter, quickly coming back up after a pair of seconds and placing a nice, robust-looking short sword (that seems too small for her, but perfect-sized for you) over the wooden counter. "Look at this beauty! Perfect for a beginner like ye! It comes with a free leather scabbard, too." She continues talking, placing said brown sheat by the weapon's side.

"Great! Thank you!" You smile, grabbing your new acquisition and storing it on your hip, next to your little dagger. "By the way, Agis told me you could train me a bit with this thing; something about you owing her a favor?"

"HA! 'aven't seen that knife-eared, frigid bitch in a while! I do owe her, I owe her a favor as big as me arse." She says, scratching her sharp jawline and looking down at you with a cocked eyebrow. "I don't know why she doin' this for ye, but... let's go, I'll train ya, laddy." She smiles, gesturing you to follow her as she steps through the shack's backdoor, kneeling a bit to not hit her horns with the door frame. You quickly follow her. This should be interesting...

You find yourself at Rhea's shop's backyard, standing in front of a shabby, straw dummy with an angry, cartoonish expression painted on its face. "Alrite, unsheathe!" The minotaur firmly commands, standing close with her arms resting on her wide hips. You quickly comply, taking your weapon out of its scabbard and inexpertly pointing it towards the inanimated enemy. "What the feck is that pose, doofus?! Are ye goin' to fight or take a shite?" She amusedly yells between hearty laughter. "Move those legs closer, come on!"

After some minutes of her just correcting your posture and making a few more sassy remarks you finally are ready to give the dummy a swing. "Remember, put yer weight into the attack... Strike!" She says and you obey, strongly hitting the practice dummy's shoulder with the blade. "Not bad! Come on, lad. Another one!" You give it another swing, slashing its torso. "There we go! See? It's all in the posture! Again!"

After a good half hour of beating the poor dummy, the minotaur finally allows you to take a break. Your arms hurt and you feel breathless, but you also feel more skilled, more comfortable with the weapon in your hand. "Good work, lad!" She says with a proud grin, walking towards you and firmly patting your shoulder, making you stumble a bit. "But we aren't done yet!" ...We aren't?!

"The dummy can't hit back, laddy... I can." She flashes you an excited smile, quickly swapping places with the practice dummy as you dumbfoundedly watch her.

"T-that wouldn't be necessary. I've learned a lot already!" You nervously babble, taking a few steps back.

Rhea ignores your words, looking at you with a cheeky expression as she slowly cracks her knuckles. "I'm goin' to throw a really soft punch towards yer way at the count o' three. Dodge it, alrite? I know ye can do it!"

"One... Two..." Wait-wait-wait-wait "Three!" Is the last thing you hear before a humongous fist crashes into your face. Your vision immediately turns pitch dark as you lose consciousness. Ouch.