"Star Blood 2:
Freehold" by Roman Prokofiev, summary Automatic translate

This book is the second installment in a sci-fi saga about the survival of Earth colonists in a harsh artificial universe. Published in 2023, it reveals the harsh realities of a human colony forced to adapt to the terrifying ecosystem of a gigantic Dyson sphere. Former cadet Sigurd conceals his true nature, secretly sharing a body with a powerful, ancient entity. The symbiote within possesses unique knowledge of the Kel civilization, the people who once created this incredible macrostructure. The entity considers itself the rightful master of the young Earthman’s flesh. The symbiote constantly urges Sigurd to radical, aggressive actions and brutally manipulates his conscious decisions for the sake of its own survival.

The action begins with the protagonist’s discharge from the Freehold settlement’s medical ward. The Earthling befriends Lando, the prince of the savage Grass People tribe. The prince gives him a combat ice dagger as a token of sincere gratitude for recently saving his life. In the infirmary, Sigurd becomes close to an attractive woman named Travinka. She works as a field medic and is the daughter of a local influential shaman, who holds the honorary title of Grasspeaker. The protagonist learns that Travinka and her cruel older brother, Mark Cassidy, have been endowed with special stigmata since birth. Ancient devices are painfully implanted into people’s bodies. The technology allows for the safe accumulation of Star Blood and imbues those who carry it with supernatural magical abilities. Such gifted individuals are respectfully called Ascending.

The relatively peaceful life of an ordinary colonist quickly ends. Sigurd suspects Mark of the cold-blooded murder of an experienced comrade and the deliberate provocation of a devastating invasion of predatory lizards. Mark notices the unwanted surveillance just in time. A group of his armed henchmen secretly ambush the hero in the empty, dark corridors of the habitation module. The attackers plan to beat Sigurd within an inch of his life, strip him naked, and humiliatingly smear him with the foul-smelling excrement of giant rockworms. The Earthman makes a desperate, risky decision. He voluntarily surrenders complete control of his physical body to the ancient symbiote within him. The entity easily dispatches four well-trained opponents. The symbiote inflicts grievous bone fractures on the assailants. Sigurd regains control of his mind just in time. He flatly refuses to file a formal complaint with the authoritarian leader of the Earthlings, Veronica Maxwell.

The human colony is in constant need of useful resources. Dynamite, the commander of the combat squad, enlists Sigurd in an expedition to retrieve the cooling mineral chladonite. The armed group undertakes an extremely dangerous, hours-long climb up the steep cliffs of the towering Frost Giant Mountain. Sigurd uses a small, tame yurr to covertly carry out missions for the local invisible control system. The hero destroys an aggressive, armored snow tigrex with the combat magic of the icy wind. He restores the freezing crystal flowers of the frost flower, skillfully deceiving the watchful commander. For his successful stealth actions, the hero receives powerful new bronze magical abilities. The team safely returns home with a rich bounty. The remaining, exhausted soldiers are unaware of the true combat skills of the secretive newcomer.

Sigurd and Travinka’s romantic relationship develops rapidly during long, secret, late-night encounters far beyond the fortified base. Travinka reveals terrifying details about the structure of the mysterious afterlife. The locals call this strange place Eternity. Sigurd’s inner voice quickly fills in the picture with new, grim facts. It explains in detail that the arrogant rulers of Eternity cynically use human stigmata as traps for the greedy harvesting of souls and magical energy. They artificially deprive billions of the sphere’s inhabitants of the chance for normal, natural evolution. The hero realizes the terrifying, global scale of this centuries-old deception.

The calm, monotonous routine of daily patrols is abruptly interrupted by news of the appearance of predatory insectoid monsters. The colony’s leadership forms a powerful combined force for a massive clearing of deep rock crevices in the Broken Lands zone. The earthlings discover dozens of slime-pulsating cocoons. They methodically shoot and burn the enormous larvae of ancient subterranean creatures. During a cold night watch, Mark cunningly uses combat magic to achieve complete invisibility. He stealthily sneaks up behind Sigurd, deftly disarms the sentry, and calmly throws him to the rocky bottom of the abyss. Miraculously, the hero survives the fatal fall thanks to his supernaturally rapid tissue regeneration. The emerging monsters immediately paralyze the immobilized fighter with a powerful, toxic poison. They carefully drag their fresh prey into a deep underground nest.

Sigurd struggles to come to within a dense cocoon of tough, sticky webbing. He spots a gigantic mother of deadly armored monsters in a spacious cave. An inner voice suggests the only possible, effective way to survive. The hero carefully cuts the binding bonds with Lando’s frosty bone dagger. The Earthman quickly climbs a tall stone stalagmite and retrieves a glowing Ygg-Tree seed. The blinding golden light of the ancient sacred plant literally dissolves the tough chitinous shells of the subterranean creatures. The Earthman finishes off the enormous mother with well-aimed throws of two thermal grenades. At the same moment, his own squad bombards the cave with powerful incendiary rockets. The former comrades are completely certain of the lost hero’s imminent death. They methodically burn out the remains of the infested insectoid nest.

Cut off by a solid wall of roaring, unbearably hot fire, Sigurd uses a rare silver spatial ability dropped from the monster womb. He successfully escapes to a securely isolated pocket dimension. The hero finds himself in the picturesque, safe location of the Silver Castle. The mistress of this secret refuge is Azimandia Vizu Aran. This cruel, vicious ancient aristocrat possesses the highest gold status of combat power. She is openly bored and happily entertains the uninvited guest. Azimandia plans to completely erase the earthling’s memory a little later and forever transform him into a submissive, weak-willed puppet. Sigurd skillfully plays the role of the charmed, obedient victim. He masterfully stalls for time, engages in a lengthy intimate encounter with Azimandia, and successfully bargains for valuable secrets of ancient runecraft.

The hero methodically destroys the painstakingly collected star coins to rapidly replenish his magical energy. He secretly disintegrates his weak, useless abilities into precious drops of Starblood. Azimanda completely loses her caution and decides to end the protracted, cruel game once and for all. She arrogantly deactivates her invisible energy shields. The noblewoman attempts to force her way into the defenseless mind of her tormented captive. Sigurd suddenly attacks the overconfident mistress of the castle with a spell of sharp living chains. He firmly immobilizes the careless woman and pierces her body with an indestructible spear made of the poisonous green metal illium.

Faced with the immediate threat of prolonged, excruciating pain and imminent death, Azimanda predictably succumbs to panic. With tears of despair, she swears an unbreakable oath of absolute loyalty to her conqueror. The ancient, broken aristocrat voluntarily casts a spell of physical transformation on herself. She forever becomes a golden artifact of complete, unquestioning obedience in Sigurd’s strong hands. Having seized control of the luxurious castle, the hero carefully examines the gloomy secret vaults of his fallen mistress. At the bottom of a deep abyss, he sees thousands of withered skeletons of deceived guests. Paralyzed living prisoners are kept in cryogenic stasis chambers. Among them, the hero, to his immense surprise, discovers the famous Vincent Cassidy, who disappeared many years ago. He is the biological father of Mark and Travinka.

Sigurd takes the silver ability to permanently escape eternal spatial isolation. He fully restores his depleted energy reserves. The Earthling resolutely prepares to immediately return to the Freehold. He must traverse the gloomy Broken Lands alone. An inevitable, fatal confrontation with Mark, who cowardly betrayed him, awaits the hero.