Torture

My mana was almost depleted by now. I knew it was frowned open, but I started drawing a small amount of mana from the forest around me. Now that I wasn't moving it was much easier to maintain the illusion of me not being there so it would take several hours of draining mana to kill the trees around me.

"Are you going to stop wasting my time or what?" the swordsman spoke.

The calm tone was chilling to hear from a man being tortured, and three of the men there were startled by it while a fourth was angered. The last man didn't react at all.

"Give me that hundred gold," the man with the dagger snapped, "Or I'll keep cutting you up."

The swordsman started laughing, "I don't take gold," he stopped laughing, "You should know that by now. Beat me or kill me. Whatever you plan to do. Just stop wasting my time. I'm tired, and you interrupted my sleep."

The man with the dagger started cussing to himself angrily. It was clear he had wanted to hurt the swordsman, and he wasn't getting what he wanted. He seemed to stop, and think for a moment before sheathing his dagger. Then he pulled out a single copper coin. Confusion shot through me once again because of the way the swordsman had reacted.

He had been cut, and tortured with little to no reaction, but now that the man in front of him was holding up a small coin fear clearly shown on his across his face. The man moved the coin closer, and the swordsman visibly leaned back. The man stepped closer waving the coin in front of him back, and forth slowly, and the swordsman looked at it as if it would kill him the moment it touched him. It was just a coin. What could possibly be so terrifying about it?