Chapter 2

In my new life, I was once again lucky to be born into a fairly well-off family with some connections. But that's the only thing I was fortunate with. The new life had many downsides, too many for my liking.

First of all, I was born far in the future, in the 30th millennium on Earth, which is now called Terra. And the situation there, to put it mildly, was terrible. First, the Age of Strife, or the Long Night, had occurred, where humanity's level of development not only regressed but fell almost to the level of early feudalism with a mix of cyberpunk. In short, it became an era of techno-barbarians wielding swords while driving tanks.

Secondly, the problem wasn't just that humanity had degenerated; the entire process was accompanied by the use of various weapons of mass destruction. From familiar nuclear warheads to viruses and bacteria that could easily kill anyone, even with gas masks and specialized protective gear. While humanity managed to survive with bunkers and technology like force fields, the environment suffered greatly. And without a proper environment, you can forget about growing enough food. More than that, it wasn't just the harvests that were the problem, but the fact that the food itself carried threats—radiation and viruses could make even ordinary wheat poisonous.

The final downside was the particular place of my birth and, consequently, my family's clan. I was born in a country called Ursh, which spanned a vast territory, including Siberia and Central Asia. Ursh was a powerful techno-barbarian state that made many tremble in fear. My new family, or rather clan, was considered noble and held a decent position in Ursh's hierarchy. No, they couldn't trace their lineage back to the Merovingians or the Habsburgs. Things were much simpler—they were one of the few clans that managed to preserve part of the knowledge from the past. Thanks to this, they could not only operate heavy machinery like tanks but, albeit in limited quantities, produce military equipment, not just repair and maintain the remnants of the past.

This gave them a huge advantage over others, leading to their prominent position in Ursh's power structure. If anyone wanted to rob or attack them, they would first be crushed under the tracks of my relatives' tanks, and the survivors would be hunted down by the rulers of Ursh. Because attacking my family meant attacking Ursh itself, and the rulers knew they couldn't wage raids for new slaves and resources or even defend their massive territories without the machinery. So, my family was respected by many.

However, when Kalagann came to power, my family's fortunes started to decline. The reason was that he fully immersed himself in working with the Warp, a psychic dimension parallel to the real world, which gave immense power. But the price for that power wasn't paid in gold or treasures—it was paid in human lives.

Previous rulers of Ursh also dabbled with the Warp, but compared to what Kalagann did, their actions were mere child's play. Dozens, sometimes even hundreds of people were slaughtered like cattle. Blood sacrifices and mass rituals became a common sight. Do you want strength that will allow you to crush stones? Offer a dozen hearts ripped from gladiator slaves or captured soldiers. Want to know if your next raid will succeed? Blind several victims at the altar and wait for the blood oracle's answer. Facing a massive enemy force? Crucify a hundred victims, impale them on stakes, and a storm of lightning will strike down your foes, leaving not even ashes.

My current father, Iskander, known as the Crimson Steel because during the storming of one of the cities of the Indonesian Bloc, he had crushed so many enemies with his tank that the entire machine turned crimson with blood, saw a great danger in this for our clan. The Warp granted Kalagann such power that he no longer had to consider anyone's opinion, including my father's clan. But the loss of influence was just the tip of the iceberg. The biggest threat was that Kalagann was losing his mind from the sheer power the Warp provided and wanted more.

In the future, a masterpiece called The Chronicles of Ursh will be written, describing the war between Ursh and Nordafrik. The cause of the conflict will be said to be Kalagann's desire to obtain Nordafrik's technologies and machinery. But that's only part of the truth. By conquering Nordafrik, Kalagann gained access to better weapons in large enough quantities. Strengthening his army, he planned to conquer all of Terra. And then, he wanted to perform a ritual decimation, killing at least a quarter, if not a third, of all the inhabitants, through which he hoped to reach a new level of power.

Victory over Nordafrik required heavy sacrifices. The spoils needed time to be consolidated, and losses needed to be replenished. But Kalagann didn't care; he wanted to conquer the planet as soon as possible. To do so, he took extreme measures, sacrificing not only slaves, prisoners, and ordinary citizens of Ursh, but warriors and even members of noble families. Soon, my family's turn would come. But the fate of being slaughtered like sacrificial lambs was averted by the war. The Emperor led his legions of Thunder Warriors against Ursh.

At the time, many thought Ursh was about to face another years-long war. But Ursh fell in a matter of months. The Emperor executed Kalagann and forced the inhabitants of Ursh to kneel and swear allegiance.

Thus, my family was saved from Kalagann's madness and survived. Though survival came with its own caveats. My family had long been disliked for its privileged position in Ursh's hierarchy and the fact that few could do anything against them, even when Kalagann was in power. This animosity didn't disappear after Ursh's fall, making relations with many neighbors tense, to say the least, which didn't add to our sense of security or hope for a bright future. Another caveat was that noble families from countries that had previously fought against Ursh didn't want to cooperate with us—and there were many such families in the Emperor's new regime.

The solution to this uncomfortable situation, where we were surrounded by enemies who were only held back by the Emperor's will, was found in marriage. Iskander, the Crimson Steel, married Oksa, the daughter of one of the elders of Clan Terravatt, who had long hidden in the Ural Mountains and were among the first allies of the Emperor.

The Terravatt Clan could be called the Emperor's personal factory. The clan's elders weren't opposed to gaining access to the technology my family held, so they agreed to the marriage. In their eyes, protection and marriage were a small price to pay. Soon after, the couple began to have children, and one of them was me.

Buri.