There seemed to be no way out of the chamber from where he had initially stood on the circular platform. So Howard began to explore. As there was not much going on on the circular platform and not wanting to go swimming yet again Howard decided the only way forward was the rectangular block that was the only other feature on the platform. Howard clambered on top of the rectangular block of stone that bridged the gap between the cavern wall and the smooth circular platform that he had initially swam to.

  The top of the rectangle was roughly on the level of Howard's head, and oddly smooth, with its smoothness only being broken by the occasional glowing mushroom. Howard had never been an athletic person, so it took him longer than he was comfortable with to get on top of the rectangle. It didn't help Howards self image that James had easily gotten to the top and kept beeping at him to hurry up.

  James II obviously had no problem getting on top of the rectangular pillar that had taken Howard a good few minutes to scramble to the top of. James rapidly inflated the bottom of his tires effectively jumping to a height that was frankly ridiculous for his size, reaching the top of the rectangle easily.

  From on top of the rectangle Howard noticed that the rectangle had formed a perfect bridge to the now visible exit front the chamber, besides the mysterious shapes carved next to the square hole from which Howard himself had been flung out of into this chamber.

  James II had already driven across the surface of the oddly smooth rectangle from one end to the other before returning to Howard to nudge his leg impatiently. Howard observed that the exit at the end of the rectangle was another brick lined egress similar to the square hole that had at one point had a door that appeared to be created out of planks.

  The wood was no wood that he recognized. Howard was fairly certain that he wouldn't recognize most types of wood, or even if he would recognize it he barely remembered anything. But Howard was sure that wood wasn't supposed to be that shade of deep purple. It was so purple that Howard was sure the wood would start playing smoke on the water, whatever that was.

  The door had since deteriorated with gaps appearing in the planks revealing a dark hallway. Howard felt James drive into his leg with more beeps of protest at Howard’s silent observation of his surroundings.

  “Ok you impatient little shit lets go” Howard said with exasperation.

  The lack of an obvious handle or knob convinced Howard to try and push the door open. As he pushed the door it collapsed inward, losing integrity immediately due to age. Noticing the dark hallway ahead, and how little James’s headlights lit the hallway, Howard began scrounging in the collapsed door for a solid piece. After finding a piece roughly the size of his forearm that wasn't completely rotten, Howard scraped it along the edge of the rectangle to sharpen it.

  With his newly sharpened makeshift spear Howard stabbed into one of the glowing mushrooms creating the jankiest torch that Howard had ever seen. Turquoise goop seeped out of the mushroom's interior, glowing faintly. He was struck by its similarity to glow sticks, some sort of magic glowing stick that he used to know about. They had something to do with loud music, alcohol and academics?

  With his new “torch” Howard and James entered the dark hallway. The hallway looked like it had not been used in centuries, which didn't really make sense since Howard had seen the wooden doorway. He was fairly certain that wood shouldn't last hundreds of years especially in humid conditions like the cavern. Reexamining the shitty torch as they moved through the hallway he noticed that the seeping goop had seemed to have been absorbed by the wood which was now glowing faintly itself.

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  Looking over at James, Howard shrugged at James “once more into the breach I guess.” as he and James walked into the dark hallway.

  The soft glow of the torch bathed the hallway in a greenish glow displaying some form of writing or pictographs. The steady green glow of the shitty torch gave the writing a sense of agelessness and depth. The more Howard looked the more he sensed a connection to the writing. All in all Howard had no idea what these words said.

  Eventually as he traveled further down the hallway the writing became more fragmented and sparse before being replaced by murals. The murals depicted a big blue guy lording over a mountain. The big blue guy's face was hidden by a strange mask, warped with a large unsettling lopsided smile dominating the face. The eyes were unnaturally turned upward in amusement. It kinda reminded Howard of the troll face from those weird early memes.

  The masked figure began carving shapes out of the mountains with corresponding holes before, as form of mental torture taking said blocks and putting them all in the square hole. This seemed to be targeted at one female looking individual as the people cried in anguish and leaving this woman in tears. The people finally having enough banded together and sealing this strange blue creature away forever in a weird lamp looking thing. James seemed to find this whole section of mural highly amusing. His staccato beeping laughter at the blue guy's antics echoed through the dark hallway. Howard found the whole thing kinda funny, he didn't get why the people or the lady were so upset, tears seemed like an overreaction to a guy putting shapes in the wrong hole.

  That section of mural ended as suddenly as it began giving way to another mural. This mural was a rather brief affair depicting what looked like a dog on a cloud. Another dog on a red bird seemed to seek this dog, leaving his presence happier or more content than when they had begun its journey.

  Above the mural of the dog on the cloud three words seemed to shift and dance in the glow of the shit torch. Howard got a sudden pressure behind his eyes as the world spun around him. Unable to take his eyes off the strange dancing words he couldn't do much as he braced himself in the wall in order to not fall over.

  “Habba ba ba, ha wa wa, haaaaa”

  the sounds seemed to echo through the hallway sounding almost like words. But as he pondered this strange sound the pressure behind his eyes cleared. The meaning of the words and the strange message became clear. The message clearly resonated in howards head - seek not the possessions of others as they clearly do not fit you.

  “Why would I seek the possessions of others when I could just buy what I want?” Howard mumbled in response to the cryptic message of wisdom bouncing through his head.

  The unscrambled words read “Dog of Wisdom”, giving clarity to the strange message. Clearly this was some sort of spiritual leader spreading his wisdom through the ages.

  Howard looked over at James to see if he had experienced any of that. Only to see a bored James flicking his headlights on and off impatiently at Howard. James obviously didn't appreciate wisdom.

  The flicking of lights finally revealed the end of the hallway and another purple door. Howard and James reached the end and opened the door revealing a large chamber that was suddenly lit by braziers all being lit at once. Something in the chamber reflected the suddenly lit chamber temporarily blinding Howard. James on the other hand unblinded and unbothered beeped happily and zoomed forward. Howard heard the sound of clinking and happy beeps as his vision gradually returned.

  The first sight that greeted Howard as his vision returned was mounds and mounds of gold coins. A huge chamber filled with gold straight out of every movie treasure room. The gold even looked as pristine as in the movies, which was odd as this chamber was supposedly thousands of years old. Dismissing the thought Howard reevaluated the treasure room.

  “Now this is a treasure worthy of a waterfall.” Howard said to no one in particular as James was diving in and out of the treasure like a fish, which is technically what he was.

  The exhaustion of the day hit all at once and seemed to seep into Howards bones.

  “You know I have always wanted to sleep on a pile of money like a dragon.” Howard said to James before making an indent in the money. Howard had to clear away some of the larger pieces of treasure like a crown looking thing and a weird strangely familiar looking lamp straight out of aladdin. With his chosen spot being cleared of large treasures Howard finally gave into the sleepiness and laid down on a bed of coins.