It seemed like he would only have one choice to make regarding his opponents since the tunnel didn't split into two like earlier.
Ahead of him but behind the barrier stood two identical moving corpses at different distances, both unfortunately as naked as the first one, much to his disgust.
The closest one had an entire arm missing along with a small hole in the head, reducing its attacking capability but also making it lighter and faster.
The farther one had stab wounds all over, a brief history to its gruesome life.
Without further ado, Mateo stepped inside, welcoming the first zomb-goblin with a club to the head.
The second one was welcomed with a kick to the midsection before being bid goodnight with a kiss on the head by the ever magnanimous club.
Swinging the club to get rid of the blood, he slung it over his shoulder and walked forward, humming to a tune only he could here.
!Cling!
The annoying metallic sound rang out again, its source remaining as elusive as earlier.
"Tsk. This is one lame ass dream." Mateo muttered as he moved. "I mean, where are my cool powers, the promised XP, my evolution. Haaah, my subconscious mind has lost its creativity. I wonder when this boring dream would finally end."
A few seconds later, another translucent barrier and…"Tadaa, a trio of freaks, just like I predicted. Predictable scaling much?"
Taking a minute to scan them, he quickly came up with a plan and passed through the barrier.
Tap Tap Tap ×2!
The first two zomb-goblins charged at him while the last one trailed behind, its already broken leg slowing it down.
Swing, *BANG* , first head exploded, jump to the right, away from the second zomb-goblin, swing to the back of the head *BANG* , another spill of dark brain matter.
Locking his eyes on the third zomb-goblin he decided to use it to learn the attacking patterns of his opponent.
With a soundless roar, probably due to decayed vocal cords it jumped, jaws opened wide, fangs catching the faint glow of the torches as it flew towards Mateo, aiming for his chest.
Step.
With an exaggerated motion he sidestepped to the left, watching the zomb-goblin's helpless flail through the air.
With a not so comfortable landing because of its broken leg, the zomb-goblin got up again and charged towards Mateo, launching itself into the air when close enough.
After watching the zomb-goblin's pathetic attempt five more times and noting no change in its attack pattern, he concluded the first test and went on to the second.
Testing the limits of the zomb-goblin body.
With a well timed kick, the zomb-goblin got dropped on the floor as the second test began.
With a less energetic swing than usual, Mateo brought down the club on the uninjured leg of the abomination, watching its face for any sign of pain as the bones and tissues of that leg crumpled from impact.
None.
Not even a wince was seen as the zomb-goblin kept swiping its arms, aiming to scratch Mateo.
Lifting the club up and bringing it down twice, once on each arm gave Mateo's mind some peace as he was able to continue his tests with the knowledge that he could not be harmed except by being bitten.
With the zomb-goblin now nothing more than an aggressive head with a non functioning body he moved on to the next test, seeing if his bare fists could do damage.
Coiling his right arm for maximum effect he punched down, straight at the chest of the sprawled zomb-goblin.
!THUK!
It felt just like punching someone in the gut, only much weaker, softer and nastier.
Getting off it, he walked to one of the torches lined up on the wall, a necessary tool for his last test, and grabbed it.
Feeling its warmth, he could tell that the flame dancing on it was real and without wasting anymore time, he dropped it on the zomb-goblin.
5 seconds.
That's how long it took for its entire body to catch fire, a minute and 38 seconds in total for its whole body to turn to goo, according to his mental timer.
Too long.
And not really effective in a fight, considering that they didn't feel pain and their flaming bodies would affect his fighting style.
!Cling!
The sound rang out again, only, Mateo didn't give much thought to it since he wanted to leave the foul smell of roasted zomb-goblin behind.
Fourth barrier, four opponents at a time.
Stepping through, he barely took 5 minutes before he walked out of the ring of dead undead, once again unscathed.
The process repeated itself five more times before he found himself in front of the eleventh barrier for the day but the tenth one he would be passing through.
This barrier though was unlike the others.
Instead of the colourless translucent barrier he was used to, this barrier was tinted with the faintest shade of purple, almost imperceptible if not for the fact that a wave rippled from the corners all the way to the center before rippling back out again, showcasing the purple.
Looking at his club which had many more bigger and more visible cracks, he gave it a light rub while humming a tune, soiling his palm with the cold dark blood and body parts of his slain foes.
Psyching himself up he walked through the barrier, facing a little more resistance than usual.
His new setting could be described in two words, big and edgy.
The room was as tall as it was wide, almost spherical in shape.
With darker walls despite the increased number of torches, this room gave off the oppressive ambience one would feel in a boss room.
Looking around for any sign of a boss monster or any monster at all, Mateo eventually locked eyes with his next foes.
The cliché Hobgoblin standing beside a goblin serving as a guard.
A dungeon classic with a faint twist being their undead nature.
Holding the stares of the three for a while, Mateo took a step forward, crossing the faded red line on the ground which led to the official start of the match.
Tap Tap Boom
Tap Tap Boom
The sound of two zomb-goblins and a zomb-hobgoblin running towards him rang out.
All of them moved at the same speed, a disadvantage to his preferred fighting style which involved the divide and conquer method.
Against his better judgement, he sprinted to the left and grabbed a torch, throwing it to the trio who didn't bother to dodge.
Unfortunately for him, his aim was a bit off because he was running so he only managed to get the zomb-goblin on the right.
Running along the wall in a circular pattern, he kept dislodging and throwing torches, getting all of them to light up by the fifth try.
"Perfect, now all I have to do is run around for a minute and a half and I'll clear this boss room, easiest boss clear ever."
Lost in his fantasies, Mateo didn't see the flaming zomb-goblin thrown at him by the boss monster, an unpredictable move by all accounts.
!CHOMP!
"Arghh", Mateo let out a pained scream as the flaming zomb-goblin bit through his soiled pants and into his right calf.
"F*ck, f*ck get off me you stupid bitch."
Mateo shouted and cursed repeatedly as he brought his club down on the beast which was both biting and burning him.
Finally managing to separate the remaining half of the undead away from his leg, he removed his suit jacket and was about tying it on the bleeding and burned calf when a backhand threw his plans out of the window.
Looking up through blood tinted eyes, he saw the horrifying scene of the flaming Hobgoblin stomping towards him, covering the distance Mateo had flown in 9 long seconds, the longest of his life.
Now fully covered by the hulking figure, Mateo barely had time to form any thoughts when, !CHOMP!, his head was violently bitten into, his life ended by the teeth of the beast, its foul smelling breath mixed with the odour of roasted zombie meat being the smell that followed him on his departure to the afterlife.