How to start learning a systems language

For a quick background, I have been programming with python for the last 6 years. Now, I want to learn a systems language, but I’m not sure exactly what path I should take.

I started off with Rust, but the language just seemed very foreign compared to Python, which was to be expected since python abstracts away most of the details that are present in a systems language. Regardless, since I have never done a language like C or C++, I was never able to appreciate all the features that rust brought or even understand capabilities like borrow checking and the stack and heap and so on.

What would the recommended learning path in this case be? Should I just power through with learning rust or try learning C or C++ first? Also, what would be the most effective way to learn by practice?