It will take you a long, long time until you reach the first crystal. But for now, cross the bridge, explore the world and fight battles to level up. If you want some pointers, (SPOILER)visit Matoya's cave to the north of Coneria, and then go to Pravoka to the east of Coneria. Defeat the pirates there, and you'll get their ship. After that, there's several places to explore, such as the Dwarf Cave and the Elf Land, with the sleeping prince and the funny Link cameo. Take your time and have fun with the game, you can't rush to the first crystal right away. Rushing through the game generally isn't a good idea anyway, IMHO. When I played a game of FF1 where I just tried to beat the game as fast as possible, I didn't really get to enjoy the game as much.