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Asuna stood at the top of the wall and looked at the part of the kingdom that her guild had taken control of.
Her guild just like many of the other guilds of Aincrad had been forced to split itself between the mountain that was the flying castle and the giant ice wall.
To her back were the lands to the south or what everyone called the Northern Lands that were a part of the Seven Kingdoms, and in front of her were the snow-covered lands beyond the wall where Aincrad had placed itself.
The cold forest that he and the rest of the players had to travel through still frightened her because of all of the strange creatures that would watch them while they marched through the forest or when stopped and they set up camp for the night.
None of the creatures were brave enough to attack, but they could create strange illusions that separated several players and natives from the group that had to be rescued before they were left behind.
For a moment she looked down and saw the specks of the men working on the new rod that would eventually connect Aincrad to this section of the wall.
They weren't doing anything special, they were just cutting down the trees that would make traveling through the forest harder than it should be, besides making the road they wouldn't change anything else.
The snow-covered lands acted as their defense system, even against the frozen creatures that they fought against and their army of undead.
Everyone was still trying to figure out how they ended up here, as things like plumbing and electricity were missed by everyone who wasn't inside Aincrad.
The wind blew from the south, then west, north, and east.
This was one of the problems with being so high, the wind didn't do what it usually did when it was closer to the ground. When it blew it was a lot stronger than what most people were used to.
Sometimes it just came from one direction, while others like the one she just found herself defending against, came from every direction.
Everything in this world was so quiet that it almost felt boring, and yet there was always the sense of danger that never went away.
The monsters that once had stayed inside Aincrad didn't have a reason to stay inside it anymore, so they ventured into the snow-covered land after the wall had been conquered.
Most had returned to the castle or mountain, but they only did so because they weren't fit to live in this cold climate.
The mammoths, wolves, snow tigers as well as many others had chosen to migrate in and out of the castle for reasons that no one could understand.
Maybe they stayed near the castle because food and water were abundant there.
Asuna knew that that was the reason why the Wildlings had all chosen to relocate there.
Maybe the monsters were still defending Aincrad, maybe they knew that there were stronger monsters in this world and were staying clear of them.
Whatever the reason was, it meant trouble for everyone, on both sides of the wall.
"What are you doing up here?" Kirito asks her, as he tries to not slip and fall on the ice that makes the floor he is walking on.
"I needed to clear my head." she answers him, before handing him the letter that had arrived this morning.
'The Lord of the North, or maybe it's South, I still haven't figured out how to call the people from the other side, he invited us to his castle." she says to him.
"So what's the problem,?" Kirito asks her.
"he probably wants us to make trade deals with him and if what the books in the libraries say is true then, there's a chance that the lords will want to marry their sons and daughters to someone.
Kirito snorts at the thought.
Every lord and king that Aincrad had was nothing more than a title that the players had given to the leaders of the guilds, who immediately rejected it.
Titles held power, but they also placed a huge target on whoever had it, so every guild leader turned and handed it to their second or third in command.
It was unnecessarily complicated because everyone did the same thing in Aincrad.
To make sure that a single person didn't have too much power, the guild leaders secretly made a deal with each other.
They would hold power over their guilds, but they wouldn't hold power over the lands in Aincrad or the parts of the wall that their guilds controlled.
This way they would make sure that whoever controlled the lands or sections of the wall, didn't go out of control, because there was always someone who could and would find and punish them.
It was so simple, but when it was put into action it became so complicated.
For the most part, the guild leaders were still going up Aincrad, but they only did this because they wanted to, as all of the floors had suddenly become available to everyone.
The only reason that people didn't just go to the top, was that the higher one went the stronger the monsters became.
All of a sudden things like food, water, and medicine needed to be taken into account by everyone in Aincrad and the Wall.
Not to mention the small amount that the cleaners or guild leaders would take with them, whenever they went up to the castle, they visited one of their floors or came to check on the people living on the wall.
Their new roles could easily become out of control but the guild leaders themselves had agreed that if anyone was to replace them it should be the person who was the strongest in their guilds.
The person had to have the support of the people both in their guilds and be strong enough to break the backs of everyone if they ever needed to use force to stop whatever stupidity whoever was in charge.
Their position could not be inherited by their children if they ever had any.
The only reason that she was in charge of this part of the wall, was because she was the second in command of their guild.
She could have easily stayed in Aincrad and made Godfree the one that had to live in the castle where everyone on their part of the wall lived.
"If you think it's too much of a problem you could always reject his offer or you could send someone else." Kirito says to her, as he tries to ease her mind.
Asuna couldn't help but smile, before hugging him, Kirito wasn't the best person when it came to relating with people but at least he tried, she knew that he was trying to help her, despite not knowing how.
"The Shadow tower and Westwach started trading with the men of the mountain, food for whatever valuables the clans had."
"This attracted the attention of the people from a place called Bears Island and I guess that the lord of the north or south must have heard about it.
"Or maybe it was the people of Kagos who attacked Eastwatch but were forced back before they could do any real harm."
"From what I heard the Army gave them the people they captured back in exchange that they agree to never attack again and trade with them if they ever wanted." she says to Kirito who now has a smirk on his face.
"Are you sure that we are trying to stay away from everyone because it sounds like we are starting to make contact with the other kingdoms?" he asks her.
'I know and that's the problem, We are just a bunch of random people living on a bunch of castles- towers, and walls that were abandoned, ruins, or whatever is in between them."
"We didn't contract anyone on their side, but it was impossible not to deal with them because the alternative was being killed or worse." she says to him.
Kirito places a comforting hand on her shoulder and begins to lead her down.
The temperature soon begins to rise as the smell of the fires that are being used to keep the surrounding area warm fills the air.
As they walk down the hall she passes by several muscular men who tower over her and Kirito, The men bow to show their respect but they don't stop walking.
She doesn't know where the men came from, only that they showed up one day and began to ask anyone that they saw what they were supposed to do.