I’d been ordered to get the domain ability, and not to invest in the Death’s Consorts’ upgrades. That did leave me a window through which I could invest in my profession: skills and abilities that were tied directly to me.

Improving the speed and maneuverability of my carrack were out of the question, as was directly investing in things like ship weapons or defenses. For the right price, the ship could be stocked with simple weapons that dealt cursed damage. For a heftier price, those weapons could be truly special. I couldn’t get any of them.

Why? I’d thought Jones was just angry with me, but now I wondered if there was more to it than a simple trial-by-fire. Had he intended to supply me with a better starting ship once I’d gotten my professional skills upgraded? The thousands of XP I could sink upgrading a carrack into something decent would be wasted if I could just get a better ship, even with some of the XP transferring over.

Whatever Jones’ plans had been, I had fulfilled his first order and could circumnavigate the second. I took a look at what I’d accumulated since emptying out my XP on my last ability.

Name

Domenic Seaborn

Age

Race

Human (Cursed)

Profession

Captain of the Deep

Level

XP

,803