Souzou Masou

About
Souzou Masou was the father of Shizuka Masou.

A gifted young mage from Zeth, Souzou was one of the ten students chosen by the legendary witch Mysteria Tou to study under her in order to find a worthy successor. During this time, Souzou met and fell in love with his classmate Athmaze and formed a fierce rivalry with Chenezale do Ragarl.

Of Mysteria's ten students, Souzou was the most talented with the Magic Arts, but was still considered by Mysteria to be too weak to be a worthy successor, causing her to deem the school a failure and close it down.

Following the closing of the school, Souzou married Athmaze, which angered Ragarl, who was also in love with her, to the point of insanity and resulted in him stalking her. Fearing his wife's safety, Souzou took Athmaze out of Zeth to live in a remote village in the Free Cities Alliance.

The couple lived in relative peace for a year and had a child together, but their happiness was short lived as Ragarl, who had spent the year searching for their location, arrived at their village and challenged Souzou to a duel to the death. Souzou reluctantly accepted Ragarl's challenge in order to save his wife and daughter, but as Ragarl had augmented his own body to increase his magical power and Souzou was out of practice, he lost the encounter and was killed in front of his wife, who was promptly raped and kidnapped by Ragarl.

Souzou's death left an important legacy for several characters. His daughter Shizuka's discovery of his death at the hands of Ragarl is what motivated her to murder several innocents during the Kathtom Incident in an attempt to gain enough power to travel back in time to prevent his death, and continued to motivate the majority of her actions up until her confrontation with Ragarl during the events of Rance VI. The discovery of Souzou's daughter meanwhile caused Ragarl to train his own daughter in magic with the intention of eventually having her kill Shizuka to prove that his own blood was stronger than his rival's.

Abilities
Souzou was an extremely talented mage whose natural ability caused him to be one of only ten students picked to study under Mysteria Tou, meaning he was recognized as one of the strongest mages of his generation. Due to studying under Mysteria, Souzou was capable of performing several incredibly powerful and forbidden magic spells that not even the strongest mages in Zeth were aware of, making him a dangerous foe.

While his Level Cap and Skill Levels are unknown, his ability to consistently outperform Ragarl, who possessed a Magic Lv2 skill and was considered to be one of the strongest mages in Zeth suggests that Souzou had similarly excellent aptitudes, which is further supported by his daughter's own natural talents.

Despite his great strength and talent, however, Souzou's abilities were considered insufficient by Mysteria, who rejected taking him on as a successor. As Mysteria was intentionally trying to find a person with a Magic Lv3 skill level, it can be assumed that Souzou had Magic Lv2.