Alternatively

While Jess got herself up off of the floor, I saw that she shot a glance at me. Or at least, somebody near me. When she did get up, she looked up to the sky and let out a bitter laugh.

"As I thought... I really can't do this. I'm too weak. It hurts too much."

Richard raised up an eyebrow.

"It seems you're doing fine to me. You're standing up, after all."

Jess held out her arms towards the ceiling, spread out. She took a deep breath.

"I wanted it to be different. But this is the only way I can do things."

Her open hand began glowing more brightly, as a larger and clearer collection of ice formed in her hands. Richard's eyes widened as he immediately backed off, creating as much distance as possible.

After all, it looked like Jess was putting it all into a Hail Mary spell. However, there were countless different places to hide away from those kinds of spells due to how the terrain was structured.