To me, the enemies are always vicious, running or not. The whole friggin' game is vicious. It's a test of your will as much as your skill (and I didn't intend for that to rhyme). And yeah, you'll get screwed by the free equipment thing a lot. It's the game's way of saying "Hey! Listen! You need to use this class for the next part of the game or you're gonna get roasted!"

As far as I know, the Shiny Swords have no practical uses in combat. They exist to be sold. And BTW, I know you're still early in the game, but start thinking up a plan to conserve money. You'll be needing a lot of it for the end parts of the game.