Help with problem

I'm just starting here, so please have a little patience with me. Here is the problem to start with.

"Write a program that reads in two numbers, n and k, from the data, then computes the sum of the first n powers of k. For example, if k is 2, it computes the sum of the first n squares, but if k is 3, it computes the sum of the first n cubes. Is there a simple check for this problem."

I've been practicing with sums of first numbers with steady exponents ex. sum of first n cubes or squares etc. I am hitting a wall on how to find the sums when the exponent varies. I tried some nested for loops and this damn book isn't getting me anywhere. Any links to tutorials etc. would be great or help on what kind of loop to make.

Code:

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for ( x = 0; x < n; x++ )
  printf ( "%.f\n", pow ( k, x ) );

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Be sure to include <math.h> for the pow() function.

-Prelude