Ascent 

It's difficult to describe the feeling of (accidentally) pouring the venom of the 3rd most poisonous snake in the world down your oesophagus. The second it touched the back of my throat, the world went swirly with pain. I could've sworn my insides were going up in flames while being stabbed by thousands of little knives. Something came up my throat, and I tried to hold it back, but the force was too great and a threw about half the blood in my body. Neo was shouting something, but I could barely hear him because every part of my body, ears included, was exploding in pain. My stomach imploded in on itself, twisted round and round and then pulled itself back to its original shape. My lungs felt like they were going to pop any moment now, and I could've sworn my throat was falling out of my neck or melting off. My vision was darkening by the minute, and I could feel myself swaying in and out of consciousness, before I finally felt myself keeling forwards. Through the pain, I felt Neo grab ahold of my shoulders, and he shouted something, and then I was out. 

"…ord! Sword!" 

My eyes jerk open. Neo is in my face, staring down at me, pumping at my chest with his hands. 

"Neo?" I choke. 

My mouth feels like I've been gargling with sand paper.  

"You're finally awake," he gasped, falling back onto his heels in surprise. "You have no idea. Your chest was burning hot, and I could barely feel your heart…" 

He showed me his hands, which were bright red from administering CPR. 

"Well," I breath, coughing and then spitting out the last drops of blood mixed in my saliva. "I'm alive, thanks to you." 

"You mean my encouragement?" 

"That was encouragement? You can’t even encourage the p*ss out of a drunk man." 
"Hey…" 

After we stopped arguing, I was able to test out my new body, after getting a few sips of water from our rationed reserves. For the first time, I easily went past Neo's record, and every time I pulled myself upwards was effortless. It almost felt like I was flying. And then, before I knew, I was looking at the rocky roof that we hadn't seen in all the two and a half weeks we had been stuck in this hole. 

Ceiling…? Why the f*ck is there a ceiling? 

Instantly, I want to fall right back down, and my heart begins to hammer in my chest. Surely, there has to be some way up…? I hang from a stalagmite on the ceiling with one hand effortlessly, and look all around, calming myself. Sure enough, about twenty feet below the ceiling, on the opposite side of the pit, there is a faint light coming from a corridor obscured from below by a ledge.  

Bingo. 

Swinging myself back and forth before letting go, I hurl myself across the full diameter of the pit, soaring past the tiny hole the food basket came down from, and then grab ahold of the edge of the ledge. The corridor is extremely short, with only a wooden door with a single, sad, flickering light next to it that cast a ghostly glow on the rocky walls. 

"You found the exit?" Neo asked, exploding to his feet. "How far up?" 

"About…" I think for a second. "About two hundred feet up." 

"…crazy." 
"I know, right?" 

I clench my fingers and feel the strength between them. I could probably crush rocks with one hand right now. 

"So, when are we planning on ascending?" Neo asked, rubbing his hands, which were covered in bloody blisters like mine.  

I look at him. 

"I'm not tired," I say. 

"So, right now?" 

"Anything stopping us? Or do you feel some sense of connection to this godforsaken place?" 

"Hell no," he replied. "Let's go." 

Suffering through hell and back was worth it, after all. I had never experienced such strength in my life before. Firing up a two-hundred foot almost-smooth rock wall was something that would only be possible in my dreams just a few weeks ago. I scoffed. It was ironic that the only way I was able to get so much stronger was through the very people that I wanted to tear apart.  

You motherf*ckers behind this stupid Project Pharo. 

And then was when it happened. The same pang of pain from before tore through my brain, and when a glanced at Neo he too had felt it because he was wobbling around holding his head. 

"Announcement," said the voice in my head. "Number 114 'Avoma' and 115 'Airo' have become the first participants to complete the first mission. Their rankings will be changed to 001 and 002." 

I glance at Neo, and we mutually agree that those two had highly likely ingested the pale viper venom too. 

"Let’s go," he says, and I nod. 

We begin the ascent, Neo going ahead of me, because if he fell I could catch him with one hand. We are barely fifty feet up when there is another pang of pain in my head, and we both almost go tumbling back down.  

"Number 090 'Artee' and 091 'Ronin' have become the second participants to complete the first mission. Their rankings will be changed to 003 and 004." 

If this was going to keep happening, Neo was going to fall. 

"Number 034 'Elemental' and 035 'Kake' have become the third participants to complete the first mission. Their rankings will be changed to 005 and 006.  

That happened when we were about a hundred feet up, and Neo was running out of strength. The pang had caused his hand to slip and we both agreed that it would be better if I carried him on my back while we continued the ascent. Nobody else completed the climb before us after that, and I pulled us up over the ledge that led the exit a few minutes later. 

We rested before the door that led to god knows where for a few minutes after that, taking in the fact that we were finally leaving this hellhole behind, and Neo leant over the edge and yelled curses down at the pit and the insects. Then, we shook hands, agreed to stick together throughout anything that would happen in the future, and then we opened the doors. 

"Number 224 'Sword' and 225 'Neo' have become the fourth participants to complete the first mission. Their rankings will be changed to 007 and 008".