
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
Consider an arithmetic series where the first term is $k^2 - k + 1$ and the common difference is 2. Calculate the sum of the first $k^2$ terms of this series.
**A)** $k^4 - k^3$  
**B)** $2k^5$  
**C)** $2k^4 - k^3$  
**D)** $3k^4 - k^3$

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