Strength - muscle power and the ability to use it in a targeted manner
Constitution - physical toughness, resistance to physical stress, poison or disease
Agility - physical mobility, body awareness, elegant movements
Dexterity - fine motor skills, good eye-hand coordination
Courage - strong nerves in critical situations
Wisdom - intelligence and logical thinking, theoretical knowledge and good memory
Intuition - quick assessment of situations and people, creative combination of clues, perception
Charisma - personal charisma, eloquence and leadership

Now, how the hell did I suddenly reach 374 years of age? And I have received the blessing of a god? I guess the voice I heard belonged to him. But how, why, and for what reason?

Apparently, I'm a dwarf now. And I'm fortunate I'm not a Tolkien Dwarf. Otherwise, I'd have a beard now, although I'm female. My physique doesn't seem too sturdy, either. Definitely sturdier than a human, but not like a bear.

Soulbound to a magical artefact, I guess that means the dungeon core. I wonder what happens when my avatar dies. But I'm sure it's terrible if something happens to the core. And best of all I try to take care of the Avatar, too.

"You okay?" - Chloe

I realise that I was actually just checking to see if I had a name. And close the status panel to continue our conversation.

"Uh, yes. I was only briefly distracted by the changes in my status. My name seems to be Victoria of the High Mountain."

"Of the High Mountain? Are you a noblewoman or something?" - Chloe

"Maybe? I do not know? I don't even know why I have that name. And apparently, I've received a blessing from Hephaestus."

Now everybody's looking at me with big eyes. I guess that's a big deal even in a fantasy world. I won't mention that my soul is tied to the dungeon core. Unless they already suspect. There's no need to point it out to them.

"So, the voice we heard was from the God of the dwarves? I must confess, I have never heard a god before. And of all people, one who has hardly any worshippers left." - Paula

Paula still seems amazed at the involvement of a god. But I am wounded that this god is said to have few worshippers left. As the patron of the dwarves, shouldn't he always have a large number of followers?

"What do you mean? I have to say. I don't know much about the world outside. Why does Hephaestus have so few worshipers?"

Paula and Chloe look at each other with slight surprise.

"I don't know how to put this delicately now. But there aren't many dwarves left. I don't know why, but dwarves are scattered. And you can't find many of them in one place." - Chloe

"So that's why you were so surprised we were dwarves." - Isgard

I nod in understanding and think briefly about what I just heard. Does this have anything to do with what the God said? Apparently, I have been asleep for a very long time. In fact, according to my status, I have slept for 374 years. Although I have no idea how this relates to the memories of my last life.

"Then let's get back to the real issue. Why don't you start by telling me how you got into this situation?"

I fold my arms and try to exude an aura of authority. If they think I'm a noblewoman, they might be more cooperative. And who knows, maybe I really am. As Dungeon Master, I am at least the ruler of my creatures, even if I only have two followers at the moment.

"There's actually not much to tell. We are adventurers. Our party of six was overrun by a horde of goblins and took both of us with them." - Chloe

I roll my eyes. No shit Sherlock.

"So much for the obvious. If you're adventurers, surely you had a mission?"

Chloe's a bit annoyed but tries not to let on.

"We were actually hunting goblins. "We would have hunted small groups ourselves. And if we had found traces of a larger nest. We would report it to the guild and come back with a larger group." - Paula

"And then you encountered the whole pack of the said nest. And the Guild paid for the extermination of the goblins, probably to protect nearby villages or travellers? That reminds me, what country are we in right now?"

This time they don't seem surprised by my question. They seem to have accepted that I've never been outside this cave before.

"We are currently in the Wildlands. There's nothing here but a few scattered villages. So many monsters come from this direction in search of food. The town we come from belongs to Westmark." - Paula

A Mark? Then the ruler there must be a margrave. The Westmark probably belongs to a kingdom or empire. But that's not important right now. What is important is that my dungeon is in the Wildlands. That probably saves me a lot of problems.

"And how long would it take for you to be missed? Don't get me wrong. I'm not planning on locking you up. But I don't know you well enough just to let you go. I suspect it would be awful for us if someone knew about this dungeon."

Now I can see some fear in their faces. I'd probably feel the same way. But my own safety is more important than their feelings.

"I... I can understand that. We've been on the road for two days, and we'd turn back in a week at the latest." - Paula

I clap my hands and give a smile to calm them down.

"Excellent, then we have a week to get to know each other better. We should probably start by collecting your equipment and finding your fallen comrades. You said you wanted to hunt goblins? What would you have brought back to the guild as proof?"

The mood of the two seems to have suddenly improved. I don't know if it's because I want to bury their fallen, but the reason doesn't really matter to me.

"Normally, we'd cut off their right ear and take it back with us as evidence." - Chloe

"Then we'd better get right to it. After all, there are still twelve dead goblins lying around. Siegward, can you stand guard in the meantime? There must still be five of them running around out there. And lsgard, give me that sword. I want to try something."

"Yes, mistress!" - Isgard and Siegward

Isgard gives me the rusty sword and waits beside me. While Siegward leaves the core room with the two girls. I was just checking my status earlier. But I don't know how my skills have changed. At least now, I have a body again.

Skills

Weapon skills:
One-handed sword: 1
Club: 1
Shield: 2
Bow: 1
Firearm: 4
Siege Cannon: 3
Martial arts: 1

Combat Skills:
Battlefield Perception: 2
Combat Tactics: 1
Stealth: 2

Magic Skills:
Sense Mana: 1
Infuse Mana: 1
Earth Magic: 1
Life Magic: 1
Light Magic: 1

Professional Skills:
Architecture: 1
Blacksmithing: 3
Brewing: 1
Construction: 2
Cooking: 2
Drawing: 3
Enchanting: 4
Engineering: 4
Farming: 1
First Aid: 2
Tailoring: 1
Woodworking: 2

General Skills:
Common Language: 8
Dwarven Language: 7
Calculating: 6
Accounting: 2
Multitasking: 4
Writing: 7

Racial Skills:
Night vision: 1
Heat resistance: 1
Persistence: 1
Good memory: 1

Dungeon Skills:
Claim Territory: 2
Create Life: 1
Dungeon Vision: 1

Oookay, that's a lot of skills. It seems like my entire last life was taken into account? One-handed sword must have come from my fencing class. If only I had done this for more than a year. The remaining weapon skills like Club, Shield, Firearm, Siege Cannon and Martial arts must be from my time in the military. Club and Shield must be from crowd control training. After all, we had a riot shield, which is basically a tower shield and a baton there. The rest of the combat skills must also be from my service time.

And the magic skills must be my dungeon core skills. The professional skills surprise me a little bit. Blacksmithing, enchanting and engineering are all very high. Has the system turned my knowledge of robotics and automation into something useful here? I wonder if I can now forge...

Not much has changed in dungeon skills, except that Breed Monster has become Create Life. Can I create more dwarves now? Or maybe even other races? I'll have to test that later. But actually, I wanted to test something else. So, I close my eyes and concentrate on the sword. It is rusty and chipped. I should be able to renew it. It takes me a few minutes to get it right, and Isgard makes an impressed sound as the sword starts to glow.

The whole thing cost me 50 mana. Not really cheap, just to remove a few notches and some rust on the blade. Maybe I should melt down the sword and make spearheads out of it? Then I could make more arms. But that can wait. Who knows what that group of adventurers left behind? They don't need the weapons anymore...