"Crucio!"
Pain exploded through Lucas Summers like molten steel being poured directly into his soul. Every nerve in his body screamed at once, and the agony was so overwhelming that even breathing became impossible. Then darkness swallowed him whole.
He had no idea how much time passed before consciousness slowly returned. His eyelids trembled as he forced them open, and the lingering ache still crawled beneath his skin like countless insects gnawing at his bones. Whoever had cast the Cruciatus Curse on him was long gone now, leaving only silence behind.
Lucas lifted his head with difficulty and looked around.
He was trapped inside a small iron cage, the bars thick and rusted but sturdy enough to crush any hope of escape. Around the cage stretched a damp underground cavern cluttered with piles of broken furniture, cracked cauldrons, torn robes, and strange magical debris. A single kerosene lamp hung crookedly from the cave wall, its dim yellow flame flickering weakly in the darkness.
There was no way to tell whether it was day or night outside.
Lucas raised one trembling hand in front of his face. It was pale, thin, and clearly belonged to a child. The skin stretched tightly over fragile bones, and faint bruises covered the wrist like ugly reminders of repeated abuse.
At that moment, the truth finally settled into his mind.
He had transmigrated.
And somehow, of all possible worlds, he had ended up in Harry Potter.
Unfortunately, his start was nothing short of catastrophic. He had woken up immediately after being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, which meant the original owner of this body had almost certainly died under the torment. Lucas had inherited the body at the exact moment of death.
One step later and he might have become the fastest transmigrator in history to die immediately after arriving.
"This is bad…" Lucas muttered weakly, his voice hoarse and dry.
Everything about the situation screamed danger. A child locked inside a cage in a hidden cave could only mean one thing — some Dark wizard was responsible. Judging from the torture, the owner of this body had probably been treated as nothing more than an experiment or disposable toy.
And if that wizard came back and cast another Cruciatus Curse, Lucas knew he would truly die this time.
His body had already been pushed to the limit.
Cold crept into his limbs while hunger twisted his stomach painfully. Even sitting upright required effort, and every breath carried exhaustion with it. Lucas forced himself to think of a way to escape, but the moment he tried concentrating, a strange fog seemed to cloud his mind.
His thoughts felt sluggish and incomplete.
The original owner's memories were almost entirely shattered. Only a few broken fragments remained, most of them filled with fear and pain. Lucas couldn't even determine where he was or who had imprisoned him.
He clenched his teeth and crawled toward the cage door anyway. The iron bars looked old, but after testing them with both hands, his heart sank. The cage was unbelievably solid. In his current condition, escaping by brute force was impossible.
Even worse, that strange mental fog constantly interrupted his thoughts. Every plan vanished halfway through forming, leaving behind only confusion and frustration.
Minutes passed.
Then longer.
Lucas searched desperately for weaknesses in the cage, checked the hinges, examined the lock, and even tried shaking the bars with all his remaining strength. Nothing worked. His weakened body gradually lost the little energy it had left.
Despair slowly crept into his chest.
His vision blurred slightly as exhaustion overtook him, and the cold cave air felt heavier with every passing second.
Then suddenly—
"Ding! The Strongest White Wizard Cultivation System is activating!"
Lucas froze.
The mechanical voice echoed clearly inside his head, instantly pulling him back from hopelessness. His dull eyes regained a spark of life as his heart began pounding violently.
"A… system?"
In countless transmigration novels, systems were the ultimate cheat. Right now, it was also his only chance of survival.
"Ding! System scan complete. The host remained single for more than thirty years in his previous life and died as a virgin…"
Lucas stared blankly into the air.
"What kind of introduction is that?"
"Ding! According to the Law of Thirty Years of Singleness Becoming a Great Mage, the system will now provide the host with the Great Magician Template. Would you like to apply it?"
Lucas frowned in confusion. The explanation sounded ridiculous, but he had no time to argue over details. Survival came first.
"Apply it!"
The instant the words left his mouth, an invisible explosion erupted inside his body.
Boom!
Lucas felt something shatter deep within him, like chains that had bound him his entire life suddenly snapping apart. A massive torrent of magical power surged into existence from nowhere, flooding every corner of his body with overwhelming energy.
What shocked him most was how perfectly controlled it felt.
Despite the enormous power now residing inside him, not even a trace of magic leaked outward. The cave remained silent and unchanged, as if nothing had happened at all.
At the same time, strength flooded his limbs.
The weakness that had nearly crushed him moments earlier vanished completely. His body still looked thin and frail, but beneath the surface, terrifying power now pulsed through his muscles. Lucas even had the absurd feeling that he could rip apart the iron cage with his bare hands.
A translucent blue panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Class: Great Magician]
[Strength: 10]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Magic Power: 11]
[Remaining Skill Points: 0]
[Talent: None]
[Dark Arts Mastery: 9]
[Transfiguration Mastery: 0]
[Prophecy Mastery: 0]
[Expand]
Lucas stared at the floating panel in astonishment.
He hesitated briefly before tapping the Expand option with his finger. Instantly, the interface stretched downward into an enormous list packed with countless categories and abilities.
There were so many entries that his scalp tingled just looking at them.
Then his attention returned to the Intelligence stat.
"So that explains it…" Lucas murmured softly. "No wonder my thoughts felt blocked earlier."
Before receiving the template, his intelligence had apparently been abnormally low. The mental fog clouding his thinking hadn't been caused by injury at all — it was simply the original body's natural condition.
The system spoke again immediately afterward.
"Ding! Correction: the original owner of this body possessed an Intelligence value of 0. The host's original Intelligence value was 1."
Lucas nearly choked.
"So I was only barely smarter?"
Still, according to the system's explanation, ordinary people usually had attributes around three or four points. Even normal adult wizards only possessed around five points of magical power.
That made his current stats absolutely terrifying.
The Great Magician Template had transformed him into a monster.
More importantly, the system explained that every attribute on the panel could continue increasing in the future.
Lucas slowly clenched his fists, feeling explosive power coursing through his body. The sensation was intoxicating. Moments ago, he had been helpless prey waiting for slaughter. Now, for the first time since arriving in this world, he finally possessed the ability to fight back.
The system suddenly added another line.
"Ding! According to the system's research, true mages are always masters of close combat!"
Lucas's eyes lit up immediately.
That made perfect sense.
Who said wizards had to stand far away casting spells? With Strength at ten points, he could probably crush an ordinary adult with one punch already. If he wielded a sword in one hand and a wand in the other, wouldn't that make him unstoppable?
Or maybe dual greatswords would work even better.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded.
At that moment, another notification appeared before him.
"Ding! Beginner Gift Pack detected."
Lucas blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected the system to include a starter package too.