The fight was boring because you know he'll win with some BS thing and you're just waiting to see what it'll be. That said, I thought the inventory re-equipping move was pretty neat. They also made the knight chivalrous enough to drop his sword for the unarmed fight, but also by having the knight draw his sword again first, the story removed MC's moral dilemma of pulling out his dagger again. Stocking the Ruler's Hand runestone for later felt like forced suspense. There's no demerit to unlocking that skill as soon as you obtain the item.