Uh-oh. Kael felt a chill. The scroll warned: “If you see the same variable on both sides, do not panic. Add or subtract them to one side.”
Kael checked it in the original fraction equation. It worked. The numbers aligned. The universe hummed. On trial day, Arch-Mathemagician Prime presented the final challenge:
Combine like terms:
Citizens wept. Bridges creaked unpainted. Bakery ovens grew cold. Everyone was stuck.
He found the LCD of 3, 4, and 6. That was 12.
But Kael had a secret weapon: an old, dusty scroll from his grandmother, a former Keeper of the Balance. It was titled Step 1: Clear the Denominators (The Great Purge) Kael’s grandmother’s scroll read: “Fractions are fear made visible. Eliminate them by multiplying every term by the Least Common Denominator (LCD).”
Kael received his sigil. That night, the bakery ovens relit. Bridges were painted. And somewhere, his grandmother’s scroll rolled itself shut, satisfied.
[ 4(2x - 5) - 3(x + 2) = 7x - (2x + 8) ]