by Funaho » 22 Jul 2014, 15:49
Each new town you access will first have to be traveled to overland, on foot, through whatever lands lie between it and the last town.
Typically, once you arrive, you'll have some cutscenes and meet some new people, and after that point, you will be able to use the Temporal Rift to travel between those towns you've visited more rapidly.
Once you have beaten the boss Daruma in Kishinden, then you'll be allowed to move beyond your current area.
Like Hisashiburi said, you'll be able to travel out down the main road out of Onigashima, veer slightly to the middle-left, and you'll come to a bridge which leads to Sakurajima (the giant tree with giant chains and nails on it, looming in the distance).
You'll run through a tunnel area which resembles a dungeon, but is open at the other end (it's not necessary to fight the monsters here, you can dash past them).
After you exit the tunnel, you'll be able to cross another outside area, and make your way to the entrance of Kumaso town.
As far as I can tell, the arrow which led you to the big crystal isn't meant to suggest that you can "use" the Temporal Rift yet; rather, it's intended to steer you there so that you get exposed to the fact of its existence, albeit with some level of mystery (I'm still not sure what Chifuri is implying, or why she recognizes Shizuka).
With Sheryl (and not uncommonly, with other quest NPCs), you may find that you've completed their local tasks, and they then suggest the next course of action, which may not be something you are capable of doing just yet - either because you'll need to get stronger first, or because you may need to complete other quests in order to unlock the ability to travel to [some new place].
For instance, once you get to Kumaso, you'll be able to see Sheryl again, and you can (as time and your strength permit) make the rounds through the dungeons she's named, and then, failing to find any clues (sorry for the spoiler), she'll say "Let's move on, I'll see you in [the next town]!", which will require a good deal more work to unlock the ability to travel to.
Another example is gifting Shizuka.
You have gifted her up as far as you can go now, without reaching Kumaso town, the next major leg of the storyline.
That doesn't mean you should trip over yourself rushing to get there; it's just a "gate", so to speak, which will open once you've gotten around to achieving that particular goal or condition.
That has nothing to do with Sheryl's quest; it's just what happens with all of your companions.
You'll butter them up... er, level them up with gifts until they're full, and then you won't be able to give them any more until some particular quest condition has been satisfied.