The four goblins took small steps as they approached us, not turning their glances away even for a second. They were cautious, relying heavily on their wooden spears. They were not necessarily hostile, however. It was more so that they were scared. Can they sense our power?

“Wait, Lilith, I leveled up and everything but… can I fight?”

“What?”

“I mean, I am a dungeon master who is supposed to stay inside a dungeon and develop it, right? When I level up, my health points also increase, but I do not feel particularly stronger.”

“…”

Why does Lilith look a little disappointed?

Goblins now stood couple feet away, pointing their wooden spears towards us as they held their defensive posture.

“Introduce yourselves humans.”

Humans?

I felt the foaming rage of Lilith. Was it because she was called a-

“I dare you to call me a human again, goblin.”

Yes… It is because she was called a human.

Goblins were hit with a wave of confusion and fear. Even though they tried to hide it, it was obvious that a shivering sensation crawled onto their skins as Lilith momentarily unleashed her rage. Indeed, she looks like a human. I for once am not able to differentiate a witch from a human. How could these poor goblins who live in the middle of this forest do something like that. And I – I have never seen myself before. Is it possible that I kept the body I had before I was reincarnated as a dungeon master?

At least Lilith is able to control her feelings – she calmed down in a matter of seconds and her rage is put to sleep.

“I am a with, and he is my dungeon master.”

“Dungeon master?”

“He is the master the mighty city of monsters. We have come to explore this forest and find livestock and resources.”

“I have not heard of such a thing.”

The goblins were rightfully doubtful. What is the average lifespan for goblins anyway? They probably would not know anything about dungeons and dungeon masters let alone a new dungeon master being born in the last 70 years. Surely, that is why Lilith is oversimplifying.

The goblins kept looking at each other as if they were trying to assess what they were supposed to do to these two strangers, at least one of which looked as human as possible to the eyes of a goblin who most probably has never seen a single witch in his lifetime.

“We can show you if you choose to see it with your own eyes. However, we are not here to enter your village. We only wish to make a trade for livestock and resources. And, information, of course – if you have any.”

“Wait here.” Said one of the goblins after eyeing us head to toe and turned his back and went to the village. After about ten minutes, a horde of goblins with spears aligned before us. One of them, one that looked particularly older than the others although he probably would not qualify as “old” in many standards, approached us as he split the crow of goblins into two. No, it was that they were giving him the way.

Unlike the rest he held not a spear but a walking cane as he slowly walked towards us. The goblins now were extra cautious. I believed this goblin to be a figure of authority in this village.

“Welcome strangers. I am Trak, the chief of this village. May you grant me the pleasure of hearing your namess?”

“I am Echo.”

“Lilith.”

“What business might you have in the middle of this secluded forest? I heard from our guards that you have come here to trade, is this your only purpose in paying us a visit?”

“It is true indeed that trade was our ulterior motive in coming to this place. We wish to buy livestock, resources, and information about the outer world.”

“Outer world, you say?” He looked a bit confused.

“Yes, the world above the ground.”

“Does that not imply that there is a world below the ground?”

“It does. That is where we come from.”

“…”

The goblin chief was better at hiding his disbelief.

“I am the only dungeon master alive to our knowledge. I am planning to build a new world for monsters, right here.”

Of course, the chief was still looking at me as if he was demanding a better explanation – one that made more sense to him. How else can to show it to them without actually showing, right?

I thought of using my spirit points to expand my dungeon into the forest. When the expansion neared the borders of the goblin village, however, I felt a resistance. It must be that I cannot claim the land already claimed by sentient beings as my dungeon. Fortunately, however, up until the land that bordered the goblin village, the expansion worked. I now should be able to summon monsters where they can see, and we do not need to try to convince any of these goblins to come with us to our dungeon to see it with their own eyes. Instead, I brought the show to them.

“Summon 10 goblins.”

Behind us, at the edge of my dungeon, appeared 10 goblins out of thin air.

“This is what dungeon masters can do.”