
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
Five friends all brought some cakes with them when they met. Each of them gave a cake to each of the others. They then ate all the cakes they had just been given. As a result, the total number of cakes they had between them decreased by half. How many cakes did the five friends have at the start?
- A 20
- B 24
- C 30
- D 40
- E 60

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user