HP: The Arcane Thief - Chapter 100: New Wand, Surprised Francesca

Humanity achieved dominion over the galaxy long ago.Once that was accomplished, they turned their ingenuity inwards. With their prowess over biological engineering, they transformed themselves into deific beings now called the Gene Tyrants. For centuries, the Gene Tyrants terrorized the galaxy, designing and abusing their genetically engineered servants and serfs as their whims took them.No tyranny can last forever, though, and the Gene Tyrants were eventually overthrown. The rebels discovered a strange light of the mind called Aether, which gave them the strange and fantastical powers they needed to eradicate their creators. Once that was done, however, that by no means meant peace.In the thousand years since, the face of the galaxy has changed. The most powerful human civilization is called the Supremacy, the homeland of 'might makes right'. In the Supremacy, a crime committed by the strong is no crime at all. With their military strength and mastery of Aether, the Supremacy has spread across the galaxy -- with the other powers able to do little but stall their advance. This struggle has developed into a cold war, and that cold war has frozen over for years now.Dragan Hadrien, a low-level administrator in the Supremacy, cares nothing for any of this. Dragan's primary concern is getting himself a promotion and taking it easy for the rest of his days. When a mysterious prisoner is brought aboard his ship, he thinks he has found the means to do just that.How naive of him.

Zero – Where the End BeginsAfter 100 lives—lived as a king, a warrior, a scholar, a knight, and even a slave—he has finally reached the last.Life number 0.No rebirth. No second chances. Only death… or glory.Thrown into the most ruthless and enigmatic world he has ever faced, he must defy its crushing grip, where power dictates fate and survival is a battle against the inevitable. His ambitions collide with the weight of his past, driving him toward a relentless pursuit of absolute control.In Zero, you either carve your destiny… or vanish into oblivion.

A back-to-basics(?) monster evolution novel.