Jagged Steel.

Jagged Steel the Frenzied Brute is an enormous Maskwalker, barring Soul's path across the waterlogged riverbed in Weeping Creek Valley.

Appearing as the main story's initial boss, he swings a large rusty blade in a wild, flailing manner, and beating him is how Soul ends up with the weapon bearing his name.

Players come across him a second time much later. Another brute, Iron Butcher, is in that same arena for a side challenge on the Mountain of Imprisonment.

Scrap Metal Covering a Broken Mind

Jagged Steel used to be a raging brute with no wits. When Transcension, the implant that fills a body with artificial Sha-Chi, was done to him, he picked up scrap from the wilds and lashed it to his face, intending to hold the Sha-Chi down. That attempt failed: his rage grew more intense, and he became even more frightening to witnesses.

Nobody forged the blade he holds for him. Forcibly taken from a disciple in the service of Huangxing, one of the Pillars of the Mandate, it was already chipped and eaten by rust when it came to him.

The Waterlogged Clearing

During the first main quest, Against the Flow, Soul comes across Jagged Steel. Past the Red Thread Barrier, he emerges into a wide, waterlogged clearing hidden behind the waterfalls of Weeping Creek Valley, where the brute stands ready with two weaker enemies. Beside the fight location is the bell of the Rustblade Pavilion.

Second Round on the Mountain

Long afterward, Jagged Steel returns at a challenge site on the Mountain of Imprisonment, identified by a banyan tree. Soul clears waves of enemies and then faces him together with Iron Butcher, the other brute who goes by that epithet.

Pure rage drives his swings; he charges with enormous wind-ups and slips sudden red-flash lunges between strings of regular slashes, which punishes anyone who waits behind a guard.

Understanding the Flashes

The game's colour code governs his moves. Parrying a blue-flash strike costs no Sha-Chi, removes a big portion of his posture and opens a counter. Lunges and leaps with a red flash are unblockable, so evade them. Dodging perfectly leaves Soul standing behind him as he recovers.

His slow, powerful moves include a three-hit overhead slam, extended strings of fast slashes and a spin, all preceded by large wind-ups. After falling below half health, he moves faster and throws red-flash lunges with reduced warning.

Overcoming Bleed

Taking hits, or blocking without a flawless deflection, fills Soul's Bleed meter. A full gauge brings Blood Loss, which cuts a major part off maximum HP, so passive defence is a bad idea. Light, quick weapons like Sanguine Twin work well, since many small hits wear his guard down sooner than slow strikes, and the Sanguine Twin is obtainable right outside the arena.

Lightning and poison hurt him somewhat more than usual (16 percent). He starts out with 6,000 HP and 2,000 Sha-Chi, and tougher settings or subsequent runs inflate these numbers.

In Soul's hands, his chipped and rusty cleaver turns into Jagged Steel. A one-handed blade focused on Bleed, its damaged edge leaves wounds that refuse to heal. Iron Butcher drops the Iron Butcher Mask, which serves as its Soul Tempering material.

Weeping Creek Valley hosts the opening encounter, in its riverbed clearing beside the Rustblade Pavilion bell. To reach the optional rematch, travel to the Mountain of Imprisonment and go beyond the Shrine Outer Gate Bell to the banyan tree challenge site.