You'll find yourselves outside of the gate after beating the boss (you could also see this scene by going south from the church where you met Aeris the first time). Decide who will be in your group, then head towards the screen to exit and arrive at the World Map (the outside world).

Kalm Town isn't far from Midgar; you should be able to see it if you walk north a ways. Go into the inn to see the rest of the gang waiting for you. Cloud will talk to the others about Sephiroth via a series of semi-interactive flashbacks:

• You'll start off in a truck being driven by Shinra soldiers. After talking to the soldiers and Sephiroth (Cloud's former ally in the Shinra army and now a wanted criminal), the truck will be stopped by a dragon. You'll have to fight it, but Sephiroth (who is super-powerful) can kill it in two hits. In the flashback, Cloud's portrait is different; this 'Young Cloud' is of a low level, but Sephiroth is so strong that you need not worry about losing battles. However, you can't control Sephiroth's actions and you can't hurt him (because of your low level), either. Although Young Cloud comes equipped with an Pre-emptive materia and Sephiroth has several mastered materia equipped, you can't take them for your own. Also, Young Cloud and Sephiroth can't use Limit Breaks (because they don't have any).

• After the battle, you'll end up in Nibelheim, Cloud's hometown. Talk to Sephiroth and the guards if you wish, then head north. If you want to look around the town, feel free to, but nothing you do during this part of the game has an affect on the rest of your quest (although is does affect the character's questions and reactions to Cloud's story). One thing you might want to do is go into Tifa's house (the large building on the 'southeastern' side of town). You can read her stuff, play the piano (if you play the 'Highwind' theme, Cloud will act like he remembers it from somewhere), or even search her closet (hey, they changed 'slightly-stretched underwear' to 'orthopedic underwear'. What's the big deal? :)) Also note that you can't get Vincent Valentine during Cloud's flashback because you can't examine the safe :(

• When you're done looking around town, go to the inn and head upstairs. Talk to Sephiroth and choose to get some sleep. The next day, talk to Sephiroth and get your picture taken, then sit back and watch the FMV. When you're in control of Cloud, head along the bridge and talk to Tifa, then talk to her again further along the bridge and it will break. After you've recovered, head northeast into the cave, then keep heading north. Eventually, you'll arrive at the Jenova plant. Enter it, head along the beams, then walk onto the wood platform and climb down the chains and go after Sephiroth. Talk to him in the next area, examine the chamber to the left of Sephiroth, then talk to him twice, once to make him move out of the way and once to make Cloud look inside the chamber. After Sephiroth goes ballistic, you'll return to Kalm Town. Pick the top option to save your game, or the bottom option to continue. Cloud's narrative starts off back at Nibelheim, where he enters the large mansion at the edge of town.

• Inside, climb the two staircases and head to the right. Enter the lower door and make your way into the next room; if you examine the circular part of the stone wall, a passage appears. Enter it and climb down the spiraling walkway until you reach the bottom; keep walking from here to find a library. Leave after Sephiroth finishes talking. After Cloud wakes up, return to the library. Sephiroth gives a little speech then he exits the mansion; return to the town square. Try entering the house to your right.

• Back at the Jenova plant, return to the area with the chambers after witnessing the struggle between Tifa and Sephiroth. Examine Tifa to carry her out of harm's way, then run up the stairs and enter the door that Sephiroth opened. After the FMV sequence, Cloud's flashback ends and you are returned to Kalm Town.

On the second floor of the inn is a cabinet with an item in it that you can't reach. However if you keep trying to get it, Cloud will eventually knock the item down, which turns out to be a Megalixir. That's right, you can get a Megalixir at this early point in the game, so don't miss it! :)

Note that you have to go to Kalm Town to proceed with the game; you can't make your way through the Mythril Mines beforehand, although you can visit the Chocobo Farm if you want to. As for treasure, there's an Ether in the door beneath the stairs in the house near the inn, another Ether in the cabinet on the second floor of the house to the right of that house, and a Peacemaker in the chest on the second floor of the third house (take the curving stairs). You can also look out of the window here (a neat little trick). If you take the normal stairs in the same house, you can get a Guard Source in the cabinet by the little girl. Finally, in the house on the other side of the town, there is an Ether in the door beneath the stairs on the north wall of the first floor. Oh, you'll be given the PHS (Party Hensei System) when you talk to your allies on the first floor of the inn; it allows you to switch group members whenever you want, providing that you're in the World Map or standing on a Save Point (there are a few exceptions to this rule).

Note that in the house to the right of the inn, there's a chest you can't open on the upper floor. If anyone knows how to unlock it, I'd love to hear from you.

Leave the town and head east to reach the Chocobo Farm. Talk to the Chocobo at the front end of the pen and choose the top option to see the big yellow birds dance; you'll get the Choco/Mog materia afterwards. Then, talk to Choco Billy (the man with the hat) in the stables behind the pen. Choose the first option, then the 4th option, then the top option again. Providing you have 2000 gil to spare, he'll sell you a Chocobo Lure materia, which lets you attract chocobos to ride.

To catch a chocobo, wander around outside on the chocobo tracks (in this area of the game, you can meet them on the light patches of grass, too), until you are attacked. If a chocobo is one of your opponents, then kill off the other enemies and when the battle ends, you'll be riding the chocobo. If you attack the chocobo, it will hurt you and the other enemies, then escape, so you'll have to try again. Don't forget, you can only fight chocobos if you have the Chocobo Lure materia equipped. When riding a chocobo, your can move around normally, and you won't get attacked by enemies. You can press X to dismount, but if you do this, the Chocobo will run away and you'll have to catch another one.

A little to the south and directly west of the Chocobo farm is a cave, but a creeping snake in the marsh before the cave entrance will rise up to attack you. Instead of trying to kill it now, go get a Chocobo instead, who can outrun the snake and enter the cave. Yes, you will still get attacked if the snake touches your chocobo.

Note that you can run across the marsh on foot, but nothing special happens if you do so (and it's nigh-impossible to pull off without running into Midgar Zolom).

The first time you get across the marsh, you'll see a large snake impaled on a tree. Just exit the screen to continue playing. Also, if you get off your chocobo while on the patch of grass before the mine entrance, he'll stay there in case you need to return to the farm (this doesn't seem to happen all the time--I don't know why). If you're strong enough, you can get to the Mythril Mines without ever having to go to the Chocobo Farm.