Chapter 58: Compatible by Grit
Shaman Protocol, as revealed through Mikel’s partial access to Doom’s system log, was neither just a tool nor a system.
It was an ancient law, buried in the forgotten history of a world within this world, woven into the cracks that leaked cursed energy and spiritual phenomena.
It wasn’t a path to becoming the strongest shaman.
Nor was it a rite of legitimacy.
Its purpose was simpler, colder:
Containment. Retaliation.
A final line of defense against rogue spirits and anomalous curses—a spiritual plaster to seal the bleeding wounds between realms.
It didn’t choose its hosts. It bound itself to them.
And once bound, it provided a head start—relics, guidelines, survival tools. But always at a cost.
His strength was theirs, but theirs? Never his.
By nature, the Protocol was not adaptive.