"Follow me, plese~!"
The boy looked over as the receptionist began directing the group elsewhere.
[color=green]"Hm, it looks like we'll have to continue our conversation later."[/color] He remarked to his conversation mates.
Not waiting for a response, Alphonse followed the receptionist down.
[@Firestorm][@Aviaire]

[hr]
The brief lesson had finished and some of the others had gone to practise their skills. Meanwhile, Alphonse stood in a corner, staring at his card. When he had first looked at the card there were 5 skills, and now there were 6. It told him he needed a skill point to have it, but it was certainly there. That more or less verified the receptionist's words, although he had no reason to believe she was lying anyway. It was much like a game's system, what with the levels and the skill points. That should've been a point of comfort for the boy but he felt like there was something nagging him at the back of his mind that he couldn't quite put his finger on. But he payed it no heed, he had more important things to try.

Alphonse rose to his feet. He was a spell caster, which meant he'd need to check how spells worked. He knew which spell he wanted to test, and he knew he wanted to try verbal casting first.
[color=green]"[Ball of quiet]."[/color] The boy said quietly.
He felt a light surge in his body, as if something was escaping, but nothing else seemed to happen. He looked around, unsure of what was supposed to happen. According to the description is was supposed to make sounds in the radius quieter, so he supposed it wouldn't have any immediate visual effect. Thus, he opened his mouth to speak.
[color=green]"Uh..."[/color]
It seemed that the spell had worked. He'd said it out loud but it sounded significantly quieter to his ears.
[color=green][i]Intriguing.[/i][/color] The boy thought.
Experimentally he withdrew his phone from his pocket. It had been there for some time but he'd forgotten all about it. Sadly it couldn't be used, as there was now a large hole through the middle of it, which was presumably the courtesy of his murderer. Perhaps the boy had tried using it as a shield. At any rate it was mostly useless, but he could use it for testing purposes.

Alphonse held the phone at arm's length and dropped it onto the floor. The screen shattered with a loud crack. The boy frowned, stooping down to pick it up. It had already been rendered unusable but it was definitely more broken now.
[color=green][i]The radius isn't as large as I thought.[/i][/color]
It seemed that the sphere was centered around his body, and thus the floor did not receive any such protection. He prepared to cast the spell again, but decided to try it a different way. The receptionist had used her imagination to conjure fire, so did that mean that, if he imagined a space without sound he could do the same?

The boy began to think it over. A sphere of silence was rather difficult to imagine. In his head he remembered a party he'd gone to in his teenage years. Everyone had been chatting with each other and then there had been him, eating crisps. The deafening atmosphere of the celebration had ground to a halt near him, and the area around him was quiet, comparatively at least. Alphonse closed his eyes and imagined a sphere around himself at that party, blocking out sound like a rock blocked the wind. And then... and then what?

The boy frowned. The receptionist had said it just happened, but that didn't help much.
[color=green][i]Imagine my energy going out...[/i][/color]
He remembered what had happened when he'd said the spell so he tried to work off that feeling. He restructured the image in his head. He formed the ball around himself, imagined it blocking out the sound wind. Then, he gathered it up, and... expanded it. He felt the rush of energy, stronger this time, and then...

The boy opened his eyes and looked around. He may have been imagining it but it seemed a little quieter now. To test this theory he took out 3 coins from his pocket. He let them drop onto the floor, each one further than the last. The first at his feet, where he believe his first ball ended, one a little further out and one he believed to be well outside the radius. The first 2 coin falls landed quietly, the 3rd made an obvious ring. The boy scooped up the coins smiled.
[color=green][i]Very good.[/i][/color] He thought to himself.
He was mostly pleased with the results. Still, while he knew he could make the ball larger, what if he wanted it to be smaller?

Alphonse stood and thought for a moment. Perhaps he could combine the methods, somehow. He had time so he decided to try it. He pointed his finger to the floor and imagined a sphere, half in and half out of the floor.
[color=green]"[Ball of quiet]."[/color] He said out loud.
His energy left him once more, though he seemed to lose much less than the last 2 times. Once more he dropped the three coins, one in the center of the sphere he imagined, one at the edge of its radius and one outside of its radius. The boy smiled as they landed. The results were just what he had expected.

Still smiling, Alphonse picked up the coins. He put them back in his pocket and dusted himself off. Maybe some of the group were looking at him funny but he'd made some good discoveries. Now it was time to equip himself for the journey ahead.