any "medium range" weapon are under appreciated on most media tbh.
polearms including spear rarely seen on fantasy setting especially when it involved foe that bigger than human size and yet most of the times oversize sword that are 2 times bigger than the user are used instead of polearms.
i think ch.01 show his past a bit,
my guess he was a powerful hero (in term of power) but his kindness make him "weak" after he almost kill the spider monster and going rouge after seeing the monster he saved are used as test subject.