It was a cold, dark night and the snow was falling heavily. Alan trudged through the deserted streets, his small feet were numb with cold from sinking into the soft snow covered ground with each step. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled in the pit of his stomach. He had run away from home in a fit of anger and frustration, but now that the initial rush of emotions had worn off, he was starting to regret his decision. He missed his parents and the comfort of his nice warm bed, but he was also filled with a sense of stubborn pride that kept him from turning back.

As he walked, the streets around him began to darken as the frequency of street lamps started to thin out. He found himself standing at bus stop. He was steeling himself to wait the 42 minutes until the next bus arrived to take him away forever when he heard his name being called out in the distance. He froze, his heart pounding in his chest as he recognized the voices of his parents. They had found him.

He stepped out onto the road, his eyes scanning the street for any sign of them. And then, there they were, his mother and father, emerging from around a corner and running towards him. They were both out of breath and their faces were etched with worry, but when they saw him, relief flooded their expressions.

"Alan!" his mother cried out, her arms open wide as she pulled him into a tight embrace. "We were so worried about you! We're so sorry, please come home with us."

Tears stung Alan's eyes as he hugged his mother back, the familiar scent of her perfume filling his nose. He turned to his father, who was smiling down at him with a mix of love and sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry, son," his father said, pulling him into a hug. "We'll make it right, I promise."

Alan felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he hugged his parents, grateful to be back in their arms. But just as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, a bright light flooded the surroundings, blinding him and causing him to shield his eyes with his hands. He frlt his fathers strong hands shove him violently to the side as he heard his mothers scream and the sound of crashing and crunching filled his ears.

When the light faded, Alan opened his eyes to a scene of chaos and destruction. His parents were lying on the ground, their bodies twisted and broken. A car, its headlights still on and its engine aflame, was smashed up against a light post at the edge of the street. The driver had fled the scene, leaving Alan and his parents to die alone on the side of the road.

Alan fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he reached out to touch his mother's hand. It was already going cold and lifeless. He couldn't believe what had just happened, couldn't understand how his entire world could have been ripped apart in the blink of an eye. He was filled with a searing pain and a deep, overwhelming sadness as he knelt there, surrounded by the broken bodies of his parents. Alan was consumed with turmoil, his conscience haunted by guilt and sorrow. If only he could undo the mistakes he had made, if only he could rewind time and make things the way they should be. It was all his fault, if he hadn't run away none of this would have happened. As he sat there, alone on the curb, with nothing left but his grief, Alan knew that his life would never be the same again.

…Ten years later…

Alan strode confidently up the street. At 17-years-old and standing over six feet tall, his muscular, athletic frame was a testament to the hours he spent working hard and engaging in physical labor on the weekends. His dark brown hair was closely cropped at the back and sides, a popular style at the time, while his blue eyes sparkled in the midday sun. His grey shirt clung to his solid frame, while his worn, patched jeans showed his reluctance to let go of things that he had grown attached to. Alan had been orphaned as a child and been raised by his beloved grandparents in a small suburban town. Unbeknownst to him, life was about to take a dramatic turn.

He was out running errands with his grandparents when it hit him. Alan felt something strange and foreign within himself. A pulsing, powerful energy he had never experienced before. It felt like a second heart beat was pushing waves of energy that were crashing through his entire body.

He stumbled, his vision blurred and he felt his grandparents' hands on his back, steadying him. They ushered him out of the store and into their car trembling and confused.

At the hospital, the doctors ran tests and took readings but could find nothing wrong with him. Alan's fear grew with each passing day as the waves of energy continued to crash through his body — what was happening to him? The medics feared that the long-term effects of the crash during his youth had caused a hidden trauma that had never been observed before.

He felt frustrated and lonely. It seemed like no one could understand what he was going through. He couldn't focus in school and he couldn't get to sleep at night. Alan felt like he was going insane — but with no medical explanation, he had no way to make sense of his situation.

Time passed and the days melted into weeks and weeks into months, yet the odd sensation persisted. He didn't know what was happening to him, but he knew that it was something bad.

It was two weeks into the new year when something miraculous occurred. Alan received an email from a mysterious source – the Four Pillars Cultivation Academy. To his surprise, Alan had been accepted into the academy. Initially suspicious, thinking it to be a joke or a scam, Alan read on and the more he read the more convinced he became of its authenticity. He felt a strange sort of connection to the academy and the world of cultivation, although he couldn't explain why.

Curious, Alan decided to do more research on the academy and the world of cultivation. But, to his surprise, he found nothing. No information about the school or anything about cultivation other than fictional books. He was confused and unsure what to do, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something more out there.

Alan felt an oppressive weight of disappointment and uncertainty descend upon him, but he was determined to ignore the strange email. He went about his daily routine like nothing had happened, burying the ominous energy and academy deep in his mind. But despite his efforts, Alan could still feel something calling him, a silent promise that there was more than what he saw and knew to be true. Deep down he knew that the energy and the academy were connected.

As the days passed, the strange energy continued to plague Alan, growing stronger and harder to control. He starts to have strange dreams and visions, and he knew that whatever was happening to him was getting worse. He started to hear a voice calling out to him, urging him to follow it, to find the academy and discover the truth about his powers.

One day, as Alan trudged home from school, he scrunched his face and furrowed his brow as he spotted an ominous figure in the distance. It was a man, or so he assumed, shrouded in black robes and wearing a hood that cast a sinister shadow over his gaunt face. He looked like someone who hadn’t realised that Halloween had come and gone months ago and had never gotten changed out of his costume. They seemed to be beckoning to Alan, but he couldn't be sure.

Alan was hesitant, but something compelled him to follow the shadowy figure. He tracked him through the bustling streets, dodging through crowds of people and traffic. The figure eventually lead him to a desolate building on the outskirts of the city, an unremarkable building with a forgotten past.

As Alan slowly made his way closer to the looming structure, the ominous figure spun to face him. "You possess the potential to become one of the most powerful cultivators," they said, their voice deep with authority. "Your affinity for water chi is remarkable."

Alan was stunned and perplexed. He had never before heard of cultivators, and yet he couldn't deny the truth that seemed to ring out in the stranger's words. "What are cultivators exactly?" he asked apprehensively. "What do you mean by 'water chi'?"

The figure grinned wickedly, their blood red eyes gleaming with sinister intensity. "Cultivation is the art of unlocking and mastering the power of the elements," they intoned gravely. "It has been passed down through generations in secret. And you, Alan, have the potential to become one of the greatest cultivators of all time."

Alan was astounded. He had no idea that such a thing even existed! But curiosity was stirring within him, a curiosity that he couldn't help but follow. "What do I need to do?" he breathed, entranced by the mysterious figure before him.

The figure nodded knowingly. "Come with me," they said, their voice strong and sure. "I will teach you the secret ways of cultivation and unlock your true potential."

Alan felt a knot in his stomach as he surveyed the stranger. Who were they? Why were they here? There was something about their presence, the feeling that Alan got from them was off. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this was his calling. He had to know more.

“I received an email from the Academy of Cultivation,” Alan said cautiously. “Are you with them?”

The figure's eyes narrowed with a spark of anger — then the smile reappeared on their lips like a thin curtain of deceit draped across their face. “No young man," they said, with a hint of arrogance. "The organisation I represent is much more powerful and advanced than the academy."

“Is that so?” a powerful voice boomed across the empty room. Alan tore his gaze away from the shrouded figure to behold a middle aged man striding towards them, each of his steps made with remarkable poise and purpose. His full plate armour glimmered in the faint light and Alan could make out a large sword hilt protruding from over his right shoulder. He was unlike any person Alan had ever seen before — he was like something out of a story, a hero from days gone by come to quash evil and save the day.

“Michael” hissed the robed figure as he took a threatening step towards the man “Leave, now”. As he said those last two words Alan felt a pressure unlike anything he had ever felt before. He was forced onto all fours but this pressure was more than just physical. Alan felt the strange energy that had been coursing through his body for the last few months freeze. He was far more distressed by this sudden stillness than he ever had been by its presence. The man's voice seemed to reverberate in his very soul, and the threat of a powerful magic lingered in the air even after Alan had stumbled away in terror.

The figure Alan had been talking to was the source of this pressure. As Alan struggled to look up his eyes widened in shock as he stared at an impossible sight. With their back now to Alan and facing the unknown man the dark robed figure had suddenly burst into flames of deep, crimson red, and yet the figure was unharmed. The colour of the fire more closely resembled blood than any natural colour fire would usually take.

Alan could feel the stiff tension between them as the man now wreathed in flame and this mysterious knight faced each other. It seemed as if they were somehow connected to each other through this unnatural fire, like two opposing forces of a strange power.

His dreams had never been so vivid but this couldn't be real. His sense of reality seemed to be slipping away with each flicker of the flames surrounding the man in black.

“Come now Lark” the man said with forced calm as he continued to advance. His eyes twinkled with playfulness while his gaze was locked on the figure in black robes who stood their ground despite the large Greatsword on the man's back. “We both know there is only one way you can get out of here - in a collar. The Authorities have already been warned of our location,” he said as he stopped a few meters away. Reaching up to clasp the hilt of the large Greatsword on his back and pull it over his head and between himself and the robed figure his lips curled into a smirk “Though I’m happy to go a few rounds while we wait for them to get here.”

The mysterious figure cloaked in shadows stepped past the terrified Alan, his blazing red eyes spelling certain doom. Alan trembled uncontrollably, the air in his lungs evaporating as he heard the figure growl out the words, "Lark is dead." As soon as the words left the figure's lips a disc of flame and fury formed beneath his feet. Higher and higher it rose, growing larger and more menacing with each passing second. "I am HADES" he bellowed and as he did so; the world responded. The fire howled like a thousand voices, a symphony of terror. The flames ignited into a beast unlike anything Alan had ever witnessed - a creature that could only be described as a nightmare made real.

Alan watched in terror as the dog-like creature grew higher and higher until it would tower over even the tallest man. It had three heads and each set of eyes glowed with the same malevolent red as its masters.

Its thick fur was like a mantle of shadows and its claws seemed to snarl with the same dark intent that seeped from his master's soul. The beast snarled at the knight with raw fury, sending chills down Alan's spine. He wished for nothing more in that moment than to escape but his muscles wouldn't respond to his minds desperate plea.

Hades hovered in the air and gracefully maneuvered himself onto the beast's back, settling between the three heads. "Alan," he spoke in a voice that echoed like thunder. "Come, we're leaving."

Alan’s heart skipped a beat as not only the robed figure but also the three pairs of eyes belonging to the beast stared at him. He didn’t move, there was no way he was going anywhere near that thing! From the conversation he had just witnessed he had heard enough to know that Hades wasn't a man to be trusted - this could only lead to disaster. But what could he do? He lay there paralysed, wishing he could join in with the wind and fly away from this living nightmare.

After another 10 seconds when it became clear that Alan wasn’t planning to move Hades simply snorted. “Dinner” he said as he patted the head in front him. Alan felt a chill run up his spine as he saw the beast move towards him, snarling and ready to maul. It took only a split second and Michael had moved between them in a blur of speed. It was so fast Alan had no time to process what he'd seen. The creature growled savagely at Michael but after tense few moments the beast leapt onto the roof of the dilapidated building, the force of the beasts jump creating a gale where Alan now lay prone on the ground.

As Alan watched the beast and its rider disappear into the distance, he couldn't help but feel his relief mix with a sense of fear and confusion. Who was this mysterious figure that called himself Hades? What powers did he possess that could control fire and summon beasts? What was this cultivation he had spoken of? Alan wasn't sure what to think. He was filled with fear and confusion all at once.

Alan shifted his gaze to Michael's, who had remained a stalwart presence in front of him. "Who are you?" Alan stammered, his voice quaking with trepidation.

Michael's face hardened into an unyielding expression. "I am Michael," he declared with a conviction. "I am a teacher of the Four Pillars Cultivation Academy, and I have been sent as your mentor so you can understand the laws of cultivation before the start of the school year."

Alan felt a wave of bewilderment sweeping over him. Was this world bending power he had witnessed actually real? Would he be able to wield it?

Michael extended a hand to Alan and kindly said "Come with me. I will take you to a place where we can talk, you can learn more about your capabilities and how to properly use them."

Alan hesitated for a moment before taking Michael's hand as a sign of trust. He knew that he had no choice but to dive into this new world of cultivation he had been thrown into and uncover all its secrets.

Alan knew what he had to do, no matter the cost. He would not let his fears get in the way of his ambition, and he was willing to do whatever it took to gain the same level of power as the terrifying Hades. As he and Michael emerged from the abandoned structure, Alan’s heart raced with anticipation. He felt the resolute pull of adventure and danger, the call to greatness that he had been chasing his entire life. This, he knew, was the beginning of his journey to greatness. With a mix of emotions, all he had to do was take the first step.