The story of KARMA starts with Ezra Martin. # BACKGROUND Ezra Martin grew up in a terrible home: his father was a drunk and worked as a mechanic while his mother stayed at home. As a child, Ezra was very shy but empathetic and loving, especially to his mother. Unfortunately, he did not receive the same love he gave. His father blamed all of his failures on Ezra, especially the financial ones, telling him that the reason they were so poor and that he works so hard only for a few measly dollars is because Ezra had been born. His mother, who aspired to be a model, outright said that she hated Ezra for ruining her life and crushing her dreams of becoming a model, even though she ran away from home with Ezra's father to join a gang and was reckless as a young woman. To add to this trauma, he was also physically bullied by other children for his feminine appearance, often being called slurs, beaten, and abandoned in forests. The poor boy had no friends, no loving family, and no one to turn to. In short, he was utterly alone. He had developed a mindset, a mechanical way to trudge on, and that was that it was all deserved. In his mind, he had crushed the dreams of his parents by being born, and caused the mother he loved so much to suffer. In his own mind, he called himself "The Equation of Suffering". Then came [[𖨆 Tsagi Li| Tsagi]] . Tsagi's family, just like Ezra, was poor and had moved from China. Tsagi would instantly make his presence known in Ezra's life, quickly becoming his best friend and only friend. Because Tsagi was a very tall boy (being 6'1 at only 12 years old), it helped stop the bullying. From then on, the two were inseparable. Because Ezra's family faced deep and troubling financial burdens, his father had stupidly taken a loan from a loan shark, and while this saved them for a while, it also came to bite them back. Ezra's father could not repay his interest, and in desperation, tried to sell and traffic him off to the loan shark. And while Ezra managed to escape, that night haunted him. His parents would be arrested and Ezra would be adopted by a new and better family, the Greeze family. He would become a new big brother to their toddler daughter named Emma. The father, Mr. Greeze, was a manga artist and an assistant to other mangakas while Mrs. Greeze was a stay-at-home mother that enjoyed fixing motorcycles. Both were cheerful and empathetic, as Mr. Greeze was a patient and gentle man, co-existing with Mrs. Greeze's energetic and boisterous nature. Unfortunately, Ezra never seemed to recover from the abuse and would exclude himself from the family, wanting to become as invisible and as less of a burden than he could be. He barely ate, made sure he got good grades, and never once raised his voice or barely talked. On Ezra's 15th birthday, Mr. Greeze would drive through a heavy storm to get Ezra's gift: a small puppy named Scar. Unfortunately, he would get into a fatal car crash. This would further reinforce Ezra's belief of his "Equation of Suffering", as he believed that if he wasn't in their life, their husband would have lived. He'd become even more distant, quieter, sometimes not speaking for days. He'd emotionally cut himself off from his family, believing that they'd be happier if he wasn't there. As for the dog, he'd give it to Emma. Tsagi, try as he might for years, would not be able to fully crack Ezra's shell of trauma. Of course, he'd still be an extremely close friend to Ezra, and he'd make sure to hang out with Ezra whenever he could, to the point where he slowly began losing much of his other friends just to stay by Ezra's side. # START OF THE SERIES The series begins on the last day of high school for Ezra. All is going well, as we see his interactions with his family, his normal life at school, and conversations with Tsagi. The two plan for a sleepover to celebrate their graduation. Throughout the whole day, Ezra has been having all sorts of deja vu and eerie feelings, but he pushes them aside to at least spend time with Tsagi and Emma. All was going well during the sleepover, the trio had drinks and snacks and had a good time with video games, but still Ezra couldn't shake the feeling of an eerie inevitability. He goes outside to the backyard to clear his his head, watching the stars and thinking about his future now that he is done with high school. Suddenly, a huge explosion came from the house that set it ablaze. In a daze of desperation, Ezra blindly rushed into the fire in an attempt to save his sister and best friend. As he desperately searched through the fire, he found Emma and saved her, throwing her out of the house and going back inside to find Tsagi. When he did, he found a strange man silhouetted in flames with his hands around Tsagi's neck. As soon as the man saw him, he attacked Ezra and threw him to the ground, asking Ezra if he knew how many times he's done this. As Ezra's consciousness slipped, he saw the man disappear into the flames. The last thing he sees before he dies is Tsagi smiling at him. # VIKANTHROPE ARC Ezra wakes up in an infinite white-grey void, and in front of him is a gigantic white and gold dharmachakra. It spins slowly for a while before an all-encompassing voice (The Samsara) tells him that he has perfect balance of karma and would attempt to send him to Heaven or Hell, but would fail. This would repeat over and over again, seemingly for eternity. Finally, the voice decided to reincarnate him as a being that is not alive and has no karma: a spirit. Ezra would wake up in the Blackheart Forest, where he would meet [[𖨆 Sylverwulf]]. After a brief back and forth, Sylverwulf would ask for his name. Because he is an anomaly and the Samsara tried to wipe what it could, he did not know his previous name, so Sylverwulf gave him the name [[𖨆 Yuru]]. Sylverwulf, who was on a mission before she met Yuru, would take him as a pet. Not seeing any better options, Yuru agreed. Sylverwulf would inform him that she had been tracking monsters called [Vikanthropes](https://publish.obsidian.md/karma/%E2%98%BA+Races/Beastmen/Vikans/Vikanthropes), seemingly mindless werewolves (or werebeasts) hellbent on destruction. as the arc goes on, you start to understand that these creatures are people cursed and twisted to become the most vile, despicable, and disgusting version of themselves. Their minds are clear, and they know what they are doing is wrong, yet their body acts on its own. Forced to watch as they slaughter more and more of their people, and in turn, their people hate them more and more. A battle ensues between Sylverwulf and a pack of Vikanthropes in which Sylverwulf is easily victorious, highlighting her immense skill and power. In the midst of the battle, Yuru awakens his ability: barrier creation. However, they would quickly be overrun by Vikanthropes and surrounded. In the nick of time, [[𖨆 Traighan]] and [[𖨆 Asgaerious]] would come in to check up on Sylverwulf. After introducing himself to the two new strangers, Yuru would be taken to the Old Outpost to meet with the other Beast Captains (The other captains include: [[𖨆 Charrot]], [[𖨆 Milam]], [[𖨆 Makabre]], [[𖨆 Torres]], and [[𖨆 Sil]]. ) and discuss the situation at hand. Traighan explains the situation: The Beastmen