The Strongest Necromancer

"… What the?" Seth said, his voice echoing strangely in the unfamiliar space as he looked around in complete confusion. His mind was reeling, struggling to process what he was seeing. The last thing he remembered was the searing pain of a tree branch piercing through his eye, the sensation of dying, and then… nothing. Yet here he was, somehow alive and unharmed.

His eyes swept across the room and landed first on Mark, who looked equally bewildered and disoriented. Then he saw Elizabeth standing nearby, very much alive and breathing, followed by three other classmates who were all standing within what appeared to be an intricate magic circle carved into the stone floor. The magical symbols glowed faintly with an otherworldly light that pulsed like a heartbeat.

Seth quickly moved to Elizabeth's side, his protective instincts kicking in automatically even in this bizarre situation. While he headed towards her, he didn't stop scanning the room they found themselves in, trying to make sense of their surroundings and assess any potential threats.

He took careful note of approximately twelve people wearing pristine white robes that covered their entire bodies from head to toe, obscuring their faces and identities completely. These mysterious figures stood in a perfect circle around the magic circle where Seth and his classmates were positioned, their postures rigid and ceremonial.

Above them, on what appeared to be a raised platform or balcony, stood a woman of stunning beauty. She was accompanied by several other people dressed in elaborate clothing and what unmistakably appeared to be knights in gleaming armor, all of them looking down at the scene below with expressions of intense anticipation and barely concealed desperation.

"Where are we?" Mark asked, his voice cracking slightly as he looked around with growing confusion and unease. He instinctively reached up to feel his neck, absolutely certain that just seconds ago he had been dying, blood flowing from wounds caused by the bus crash. Yet now his skin was smooth and uninjured, as if nothing had happened.

His eyes quickly landed on Elizabeth, who had moved closer to Seth and was now hugging him tightly for comfort and reassurance. The sight of their embrace sent a familiar pang of jealousy through Mark's chest, but he found himself frozen in place when he noticed something far more disturbing. The twelve robed figures who had been standing around them were now dropping to the ground one by one, their bodies hitting the stone floor with dull thuds as life left them completely.

"People from afar," the Queen began, her voice carrying a regal authority that commanded immediate attention. "I am the queen of this land, and I have summoned you all here to help save my world from certain destruction." Even as she spoke these words, her face began to go pale, and before their shocked and horrified eyes, she began to age rapidly. Her youthful appearance transformed before them, going from that of a vibrant 20-year-old woman to someone who appeared to be on death's doorstep, her skin wrinkling and her hair turning gray.

"Let me guess," Seth said with a knowing frown, his voice carrying a tone of weary familiarity that stunned the queen. "There's a demon lord or something similar threatening your world, right?"

The Queen stared at him in complete shock, her aged eyes widening with surprise. "How did you know that?" she asked, her voice now weak and strained from the magical aging process.

"There are shows and stories that are popular in our world about this exact concept," Seth explained patiently, his tone matter-of-fact. "People from our world getting summoned into another world to save it from some great evil. It's basically a whole genre of entertainment where we come from."

The Queen nodded slowly, processing this information with visible effort. "I see… that would indeed sum up everything that's happening here. The demon lord has started an all-out war with the gods themselves, and with the gods' attention focused elsewhere on this cosmic conflict, we no longer have their divine protection. That's why we have had to seek help from elsewhere, from people like you."

This revelation left everyone stunned into silence. The implications of what she was saying were staggering - they weren't just dealing with some local threat, but something powerful enough to challenge actual gods.

"Gods actually exist?" Mark asked, his voice barely above a whisper as the full weight of their situation began to sink in.

The Queen nodded gravely. "They do, and they are currently locked in battle with forces that threaten the very fabric of reality itself."

"So how are we going to awaken our abilities or powers?" Seth asked with casual interest, as if discussing the weather. "In the shows I've watched, people from our world are always supposed to be special in some way. The fact that you went through all the trouble and sacrifice to summon us here suggests that might actually be true."

"Why do you care about getting powers?" Elizabeth interrupted, her voice filled with worry and homesickness. "Can we return home? That's what I want to know."

The Queen's expression became even more sorrowful, if that was possible. "I'm deeply sorry, but you're all dead in your original world. The summoning magic can only bring those who have died within a very specific timespan of ten seconds. We had hoped to summon more people to help us, but we simply weren't strong enough to call forth additional heroes."

Mark and the others exchanged complex looks filled with a mixture of grief, anger, and resignation. They naturally didn't want to be suddenly summoned into a completely unfamiliar world and forced to fight someone else's war. They weren't like the main characters of those fantasy stories who had no life worth returning to. But the harsh reality was that they were dead - what choice did they really have?

"As for your question about abilities," the Queen continued, her voice growing weaker with each word, "yes, people from your world are indeed special. Humans from your world are born with a unique gift that humans of this world don't naturally possess." She gestured weakly toward a large, crystalline structure that stood in the center of the room.

"This is the awakening crystal," she explained, her words coming out in labored breaths. "Those who place their palm upon its surface will awaken what we call the voice of the world - a connection to the fundamental forces that govern reality itself."

At this point, the Queen was too weak to continue speaking. A young man wearing ornate blue and white robes stepped forward to speak on her behalf, his voice strong and clear where hers had become frail.

"Along with the voice of the world, you will each awaken a talent," he explained, his tone formal and educational. "Talents are incredibly important because they determine your maximum level cap - essentially, how powerful you can potentially become."

He paused to ensure everyone was following his explanation before continuing. "Talents are ranked from F tier at the lowest level all the way up to SSS tier at the peak, which is the same tier as the gods themselves. Each tier increases your level cap by exactly 10 levels, with F tier having a level cap of 10, and SSS tier having a level cap of 100."

The implications of this system were staggering. The difference between someone with an F-tier talent and someone with an SSS-tier talent would be like comparing a child to a god.

"There will be more detailed explanations later," the young man continued. "For now, do any of you have questions about what you've heard so far?"

Of course, there were numerous questions, and the young man patiently answered each one with the thoroughness of someone who had clearly done this before, though perhaps not in quite these circumstances.

"How can you all be sure we would actually become heroes?" Seth asked calmly, his question causing the air in the room to suddenly grow tense and still. "Isn't this a huge gamble on your part?"

The young man frowned, clearly not expecting this line of questioning. "Why do you ask that?"

"The shows I've watched usually have at least one annoying bully or problematic person among the summoned group," Seth explained with the same casual tone. "That person normally becomes a villain later in the story, causing problems for everyone else. It's just a question that's been on my mind since you started explaining all this."

The young man stared into Seth's eyes for a long moment, as if trying to read his soul. Finally, he let out a slow breath. "You're all classified as summons under our magical system. You'll understand what that means and its implications later."

Seth nodded in understanding, though he clearly wasn't entirely satisfied with the vague answer.

After all questions had been answered to the best of the young man's ability, everyone formed a line toward the crystal. One by one, they would place their palm on its surface and discover what kind of power they had been granted in this new world.

The first person in line was one of Mark's friends, a girl named Sarah. As she placed her palm on the crystal with obvious nervousness, everyone in the room was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sensation of life force that made their skin tingle and their hearts race. The crystal exploded with a brilliant green light that was so bright it nearly blinded everyone present.

From the cold stone ground beneath their feet, plant life was forcefully brought forth with incredible speed and vitality. Vines, flowers, and small trees spread out across the entire floor, transforming the sterile chamber into something resembling a garden paradise.

"This is the S-tier talent called Demeter's Blessing," the young man announced with obvious relief and excitement. "It's a genuinely powerful talent, and although your level cap is 80, this particular ability class stands out primarily in its support role rather than direct combat or defensive capabilities."

The young man couldn't hide his amazement. It had been thousands of years since the human race had produced anyone with an S-rank talent. This was already far beyond their best hopes.

Next was another student named Luke. He adjusted his glasses nervously before placing his palm on the crystal with trembling fingers. The crystal immediately exploded with a brilliant blue light, and suddenly water began to fill the entire room at an alarming rate, forcing the young man to call out urgently for Luke to remove his hand before they all drowned.

"You have awakened the SS-tier talent called Hand of Poseidon," the young man explained breathlessly, his excitement barely contained. "This gives you dominion over water and everything connected to it. You can summon, create, and control water in virtually any way you can imagine. It's an incredibly powerful talent, but it is greatly dependent on the availability of water. Without access to water sources, you might even lose to opponents who are levels below you."

Luke nodded in understanding, though he looked slightly overwhelmed by everything happening.

The next person was a quiet student named Adam. He looked toward the young man for a moment, gathering his courage, before placing his palm on the crystal. After a brief moment, the crystal suddenly developed a powerful gravitational pull that was growing stronger by the second, threatening to tear apart everything in the room.

Once again, the young man called out urgently for Adam to release the crystal before the magical forces got completely out of control.

"Your talent is an S-tier ability," the young man explained with a serious expression, "but although it's technically S-tier, it has the potential to rival some SSS-tier talents due to its fundamental nature. You have been granted power over space and time."

Adam's eyes widened in shock at this revelation. Space and time were concepts so fundamental that controlling them seemed almost godlike.

"Space and time are elements that are extremely difficult for others to resist or defend against," the young man continued. "Someone could be level 80 while you're only level 20, but unless they have specific means to shield themselves from your talent, they are almost certain to be defeated. This is a talent so rare and powerful that I don't even know its official name, due to the incredible rarity of those two elements appearing together."

Adam nodded slowly, clearly trying to process the enormous responsibility that had just been placed on him.

Next was Mark, who stepped forward while taking a deep, steadying breath. He placed his palm on the crystal and everyone watched expectantly. But the crystal just remained there, completely lifeless and unresponsive. The air grew quiet and tense, with everyone waiting for something, anything, to happen.

"You're… talentless," the young man said, his voice filled with shock and disbelief. It was extremely rare for anyone to be born completely without a talent. The phenomenon was so uncommon that he didn't even know how to properly react to what he was seeing.

"We'll look into your situation more thoroughly later," he said with a slight frown, clearly troubled by this unexpected development. "For now, let the next person step forward."

Mark felt his world crashing down around him. Everyone else was getting incredible powers, and he was apparently worthless. The young man looked toward Elizabeth, who was staring at Mark with obvious worry and concern. She could clearly see the panic in his eyes, how desperately he wanted to ask for a second chance but was too scared and humiliated to speak up.

But just as Elizabeth took a step forward to take her turn, the crystal suddenly came to life with explosive force. A powerful wind erupted from it that nearly sent Elizabeth flying backward. The young man's eyes widened in absolute shock, his mouth falling open as he realized what had happened.

"That's… that's an SSS-tier talent," he whispered, his voice heavy with awe and disbelief. "I don't even know the name of it because such powers are beyond our understanding."

The young man was stunned into silence. An SSS-tier talent was something that existed only in legends. This was power on the level of the gods themselves. Not even the actual gods could bless others with such an incredibly high-tier talent.

"N-next person," the young man stammered, secretly grateful that he hadn't acted disrespectfully toward someone with such overwhelming power.

Elizabeth let out a soft, nervous breath as she stepped forward and placed her palm on the crystal. At first, nothing seemed to happen, and her heart began to sink. She didn't move away immediately, holding onto hope, only stepping back when the young man gently asked her to do so. After all, Mark's talent had taken time to manifest, yet the reaction had been incredibly powerful. If Elizabeth had an SSS-tier talent, something similar should have happened.

But then, after what felt like an eternity, a beautiful golden aura began to emanate from the crystal. Elizabeth's attention was suddenly drawn to something that appeared to manifest in front of her, something that only she could see. Seth noticed this phenomenon, and he had also observed how everyone else seemed to have their attention drawn to something that appeared before them when their talents activated.

In the next moment, everyone in the room was completely enveloped by the crystal's golden light. All negative effects they had been suffering were instantly washed away, as if they had all undergone a miraculous rebirth. Injuries healed, fatigue vanished, and even psychological trauma seemed to fade.

The Queen, who had been weakly watching everything unfold from her aged and frail state, suddenly felt her youth returning to her. Her eyes widened in amazement as she found her strength returning, her body returning to its prime condition. Everyone looked at her in wonder, then turned back to Elizabeth, who wore an equally stunned expression.

"T-thank you," the Queen said with a deeply grateful bow toward Elizabeth, who nodded back awkwardly, clearly overwhelmed by what had just happened.

Seth watched all of this unfold with a confused but fascinated expression. Finally, it was his turn. He stepped forward and placed his palm on the crystal, his mind racing with possibilities.

'I hope I get something lightning-based,' he thought to himself. He had always believed that the element of lightning was the strongest and most impressive of all the elemental powers.

With those thoughts in his mind, a dark, ominous aura exploded from the crystal with tremendous force. At the same time, a translucent screen appeared directly in front of Seth, displaying information that only he could see.

[Name: Seth Morningstar

Age: 18

Race: ???????

Talent: [King Of The Dead] {True Name Sealed Due to Requirements Not Being Met}

Level: 1

-----

HP: 100

MP: 7

Strength: 10

Defense: 7

Agility: 8

Endurance: 10

Intelligence: 10

Available Stat Points: 0]

[King Of The Dead] - An S-tier talent that allows the user to have dominion over the dead. With this talent, the dead naturally stand ready to follow your wishes, for you are their king, and they fall within your domain. You can empower, control, and summon the dead as undead minions to command as you wish.

Be warned: this is a sealed talent for a very good reason. The more it is used, the closer you come to meeting the requirements to unlock the true potential of this talent.

"Let go of the crystal immediately!" the young man called out urgently. At first, he thought the darkness emanating from it wasn't particularly threatening, but as he watched everything the dark aura touched begin to seem poisonous and corrupted, he realized the danger.

Seth quickly removed his hand from the crystal, and with a soft sigh of relief, he looked around to find that Elizabeth and everyone else now had a knight positioned in front of them, shields raised protectively.

"Sorry about that," Seth said awkwardly, genuinely apologetic for the scare he had caused.

The young man, along with all of the soldiers and knights, gave Seth strange, wary looks. There was a reason for their concern - in their world, talents were believed to reflect a person's character, inner struggles, goals, personality, and fundamental nature. What did it mean for Seth to have been granted such a dark and ominous talent?

-----

The world that Seth and the others found themselves in was indeed a magical realm, and although they had been blessed with incredible talents, it didn't mean they were forced to rely solely on those talents for everything. Seth, for example, took the ominous warning he had received from the system very seriously and went on to try to learn conventional magic that he could study and practice safely.

There were many other skills and abilities to learn beyond their innate talents, and Seth and the others spent considerable time learning what the various stats they could see actually meant. It turned out that they had been granted a unique stat window that provided them with much more detailed information than what was typically available, as well as the extremely rare ability to manually allocate where their stats would go after leveling up.

The others who had been summoned alongside them couldn't see the detailed descriptions of what their talent abilities actually did, which significantly limited their ability to reach their full potential. They had to learn through trial and error and careful experimentation.

The stats themselves were not permanently fixed, and one did not necessarily need to level up to increase them. For example, Seth had the overall highest base stats compared to everyone who had been summoned with him, which shocked everyone since Seth was widely considered to be lazy and unmotivated.

The average human's stats in this world were around 1 in each category. Having stats of 10 would rival or equal the peak human capability back on Earth in that particular area. So everyone was genuinely shocked by Seth's natural physical and mental capabilities. After all, if someone had 10 stats in strength, wouldn't it be reasonable to expect them to be slow? But Seth seemed to defy all expectations.