Should i have gotten a negative combat strength

[upowlnight]

I was a level 3 dwarf, and got changed to a female. I had the -5 combat sitting in front of me for my next battle
I wandered in LVL 2 Mr Bones.
I played a potion to add +3 to my combat.
I told everyone this put me at 4 total

I think I was supposed to be:
lvl 3(base) -5(gender change) +3(potion) = lvl 1 base

I felt guilty the rest of the game realizing I probably should have been lvl 1 combat and not lvl 4 combat