Another vote for Zig. I am intrigued with Rust, but don't get too far with it as with other languages, but understanding its mission statement is a lot more comprehensive. The Rust Programming Language book is very well written, however, by the end of the book it feels like you are just learning the language with no stimulating examples. I am using Zig, and making great progress with my personal projects, and look forward to being much more productive in the near future.