Monster Legends - Volume 1: A World Of Monsters

1. Pick your Starter

My alarm goes off and I groan loudly. "Shut up." I mutter under my breath and search for the alarm clock on my bedside table. I curse as my hand hits its side and the clock topples over and crashes to the ground. I cringe at the sound of glass breaking. What a fantastic start to a day!

I groggily get up from my bed and walk to the dresser. I stayed up late last night. Not because I wanted to. I've been in bed at nine already, but I just couldn't get to sleep, and when I finally did, it was well past two am.

Yep, that's right. Today is a very important day. It's the first of July, and I turned fifteen exactly one month ago. And why is it important? Because on the first of July, all the kids that are over fifteen get a chance to participate in the Starter Test.

Its not a test like in school, where you have to count what's 17x=3(x+4)... no, it's a test that picks the best starter monster for your personality. You see, there are nine elements the monsters can be. And each monster can be either only one or a combination of two different elements. The elements are: Fire, water, nature, earth, thunder, magic, dark, light and metal. Each element is strong against another, but weak against the same element. For example, fire is strong against nature, but weak against another fire monster. Sometimes, it can get a little confusing, but once you learn it all, it all makes sense.

"Shay! Are you up yet?" That was my mum, Stephanie. "Yep!" I shout down the stairs. "Okay sweetie, just hurry up, you don't wanna be late!" I roll my eyes. What'd you mean mum? I have another hour. Mother hates being late, and always panicks when it starts to get close to the given time we're supposed to be somewhere. I on the other hand, am always calm and don't hurry at all. And I have never been late in my life. Mum needs to chill.

After doing my bussiness, I walk downstairs to the kitchen. Mum's already up washing the dishes. "Morning." I mutter, searching the kitchen for something to stuff my face with. "Hey Shay, ready for your test?" She asks in that caring mummy voice that I've over the long years grown so accustomed to. "Yeah, I guess." I say, my mouth full of bread and cheese. "You know, you shouldn't speak with your mouth full." I gawp at mum. "But...you asked me a question!" I say. Or at least attempt to say, as bread crumbs splatter over the floor and I start coughing. Mum laughs and hugs me as I struggle to gulp down the rest of my breakfast. "Get ready darling, we'll be setting off soon." "Mum! We have fifty more minutes, and Dr. Kelly's lab is no longer than a five minute's walk from here!" "Sweetie, it's always best to arrive early than late." And with that she walks off to her bedroom.

With my black leather jacket with blue stripes that run down the collar, and my red sport shoes, we set off. It's a nice and sunny day today. Birds fly across the sky, and the trees sway here and there in the light wind. Mum talks to me almost the whole time we walk, and I listen with only one ear. When I was little, my dream was to become the greatest Monster Master that ever walked the earth. Sure, maybe that dream is still within me somewhere, but from the day my father died, it has slowly sank deeper and deeper into my mind. But now I was fifteen, it has awoken and I find myself feeling more excited than I would have been a couple months ago.

"Here it is. Dr. Kelly's lab." Mum says. We stand in front of a large, white building with a red, metal clawed paw hanging on the front. That's the logo for basically anything to do with Monsters.

Mum walks forward and knocks onto the wooden door. We wait a couple seconds, and then the door swings open.

Doctor Kelly is a man in his late fifty's, and his hair is always a mess, and it is said that he cuts it himself using a dagger. I'm not sure if I believe that myth, but whatever. He has studied the Monsters for twentyfour years and works here in Gillamoore town as a both Monster observer and a Monstagram maker.