This Maguu Kenki is very powerful. In the eyes of Inazuma's people, it is comparable to the great youkai said to have once stood by the side of the legendary Raiden Shogun.
It should be said that anything capable of serving as a boss is never simple.
In the world of Teyvat, not many could reliably take it down. To even cross blades with it, one would need at least the level of a national-tier expert like Grandpa Lu or Captain Jean from the original Genshin Impact storyline.
The reason this thing has managed to exist until today without being cleaned up by the Raiden Shogun is quite simple.
One reason is that it has a connection to the past, and the other is that its threat level is extremely low.
Yes, you heard that right—this thing is very strong, but its danger to others is minimal.
The Maguu Kenki simply squats in a corner of Yashiori Island. As long as no one provokes it, it barely moves at all.
Even when it does become active, it chooses to plow through the monsters on Yashiori Island.
Oh, and occasionally it might pick a fight with a strong passerby, but the strong ones who get targeted by it basically never die.
This has actually made the Maguu Kenki quite popular in Inazuma. Plenty of samurai even view being able to fight the Maguu Kenki once as a symbol of true strength.
The old man began his combat power analysis.
This Maguu Kenki cannot be judged according to how it behaves in the Genshin Impact game.
In the game, it has health bars, dodge invincibility frames, and the like.
On the actual continent of Teyvat, none of those things exist—underestimate it, and you'll pay a heavy price.
As an artificial mechanical construct, its physique should at least be comparable to a Rock-imbued Hilichurl King with defensive bonuses.
The old man found it hard to evaluate physique precisely. Back in Mondstadt, running commissions had trained his body and agility, and later the gift from the Frostbearing Tree had greatly improved his constitution. Still, the old man estimated that he could only compare to an ordinary, non-phase-two Rock Hilichurl King...
He didn't want to say much—his physical defense had improved, which was already pretty good. But when facing high-quality opponents, it was still obvious that he could get dented just like before.
This counts as the first loss.
Next came technique. While his foundational spear arts were extremely solid and he had even received guidance from Rex Lapis, how should he put it...
This damn Maguu Kenki's technique belonged to a grandmaster of a generation...
As an adventurer who clearly knew his own skills had only progressed a short time beyond leaving the beginner village, the old man could still see the gap quite clearly.
This counts as the second loss.
Speaking of which, if he were to challenge the Maguu Kenki in his capacity as Shura Anyakonsen-shou, he would probably have to wear that heavy Shura Anyakonsen-shou armor...
At that point, his speed wouldn't be fast enough...
Wait a minute—that Maguu Kenki's "Tengu Shō" is specifically designed to counter speed, isn't it?
Oh no, that's already the third loss.
And on top of that, the Maguu Kenki wields elemental blade energy with godlike mastery, using both Anemo and Cryo attributes...
The old man, who habitually took enemies seriously in tactical planning, fell into deep thought.
This boss isn't easy to fight at all...
Alright, enough tactical humility. Now came strategic contempt.
What the old man was currently best at was mastery over elemental power—if translated into game terms, that would be Elemental Mastery.
Oh, now that made things simple.
Anything that thing over there could do, the old man could do as well.
And the old man could do it with far more detail than the version in Genshin Impact.
Immortal secret arts! Kid!
An old man who can play with elemental power in two different roles!
When it came to dealing with this kind of over-spec war刺—fast attack speed, high damage, and a certain degree of tankiness—the old man already had ideas on how to handle it.
"I need intelligence." The old man looked seriously at the head of the Kamisato family.
"I knew you'd say that."
The Kamisato household head pulled a small notebook out from his sleeve.
The old man took the notebook and began reviewing and analyzing it.
He focused particularly on information related to elemental power...
And after checking, he continued to use those three losses to suppress the part of his mind that might carelessly think "it's about good enough."
"About good enough" often ends up meaning "far from enough" when you capsize in the gutter at the last moment.
The old man already had ideas about the fighting style and approach for Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou.
Not only did he need to win—he needed to win beautifully.
Next, he would head over quietly, spar with the Maguu Kenki once to test the waters, and get a real sense of its depths.