Oh! Oh oh! Level-up!
Ooh, now we need to pick out a class... barbarian maybe? Ahhaha this merits careful thought...
Barbarian would mesh very nicely indeed with our skyhigh hit points and our natural aptitude for unarmed combat... but our AC would remain kinda mediocre, no matter how much we dump into Dexterity to try and fix it. We'd be taking hits pretty much all the time... but we'd have the hit points and damage resistance to cope, and we'd also be much much better at grappling and whatnot. Grab somebody by the collar, slug 'em in the face-- grab two guys at once, smash their heads together-- it'd be beautiful!
Fightering, on the other hand, comes with perks of its own. We'd miss out on that sweet sweet Rage ability and all the stuff that comes with it... but we could wear heavy armor, which would completely negate the Dexterity penalty to our Armor Class, and our very lack of an Athletics boost would free us up to play around with other weapons and fighting styles. We could wield glaives! Swing greatswords! Hurl javelins! The possibilities are endless reasonably numerous!
...Of course, we don't actually have any of that equipment at the moment, and apparently it's really expensive to buy. Fighter's not nearly as useful an option without chainmail to back it up, so... the question, then, is whether it's worth holding out a bit for the pricey toys.
I'm down for either option, but personally? I'm gonna go with barbarian. The Hulk-Hogan potential is just too delightful.
Now that we're (mostly) by ourselves, ponder the madness we demonstrated beating down that thug and his bony crony. Attempt to take whatever we felt then, and bend it to our newfound "readiness." We will learn to channel rage. Fury is a tool, with which we shall destroy those who would harm us or those we protect.